Noteworthy Passion

My notes collection became something new: proof that I care.

Stripping on Sundays

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I was on the phone with my grandmother when she asked me if I’d gotten a term-time job. “Yes,” I answered her. “I’m stripping at CRG.”

Central Rock Gym Sign

On Bearing Witness

When faced with uncomfortable displays of grief or jealousy-inducing accomplishments, bearing witness is the bravest act of love.

People’s Vegetable

I hesitate to call “Dictee” anything but an autobiography. It is nothing if not a lifetime condensed into pages, a reclamation of all that is lost in translation.

The Big Bangs Theory

As I felt pounds of my hair slide off my head, I cast my mind wildly for a positive spin on my new reality. But I could latch on to only one thing: At least this would be the beginning of something new.

Dear Junior Year

My grief didn’t shrink — I don’t know that it ever will — but my heart expanded.

Lost in Translation Design

DJY Friends

I committed myself to this new life I was living, my life after loss. I committed to finding joy in it and to fighting for better.

Dear Junior Year Cover

DJY Church Ceiling

Rome was welcoming in all the right ways.

Big Bangs Theory Cover

MG KT 14p Portrait

I knew who I was, I knew who my friends were.

DJY Museum

I liked Italian you. Open, friendly, unafraid.

Kate siblings photo

The author, bottom left, with her six siblings.