All the joy a heart can hold

Sue came over for a couple of hours this evening and played some magic tricks involving an orange ping pong ball. 

Sue’s antics kept Bella laughing for hours.

After Sue left, Bella called both her parents, one in Toronto and one in NYC, and she didn’t cry after she said goodnight to them.

Bella fell asleep smiling, her hand on my shoulder. 

Later I heard noises and went to check: she was laughing in her sleep.

Despite all the suffering and difficulty in the world, in one small apartment high over the city of Portland, Oregon, in this moment, all’s right with the world.