A friend gave me the book The Poet and the Silk Girl  inscribed with the author Satsuki Ina’s dedication, Okage Sama De which means I am here because of those around me.  The literal translation is: I am here because of the shade you provided me.  I’m with that today, the day before the shortest day of the year, tomorrow, Sunday, at 7:03 AM PST.

I think of two quotes by Pablo Casals.

We ought to think that we are one of the leaves of a tree, and the tree is all humanity. We cannot live without the others, without the tree.

The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.

And each day, a new birth, a miracle.