While it’s fitting that this new venture of mine should begin with a celebration of new life, it could have taken less time to write than it does to gestate a human!

Thank heavens A.B. took the initiative last summer, or the baby shower for Eli and Jen might never have happened. I’m not one for events that follow proscribed conventions, and organization isn’t a strong point, but Anna Belle Wood – who, along with brother Zack, was a frequent, beautiful presence in the home I shared with Eli, Anda, and their father Ande for two decades – is supremely organized, creative, and energetic. She is such a joyful instigator!