All these things, the nuances, the anomalies, the subtleties, which we assume only accessorize our days, are effective for a much larger and nobler cause. They are here to save our lives. I know the idea seems strange, but I also know it to be true.

Everything is going to be ok. Sometimes, we lose ourselves in fear and despair, in routine and constancy, in hopelessness and tragedy, we thank God for Bavarian sugar cookies. And, fortunately, when there are no cookies, we can still find reassurance in a familiar hand on our skin, or a kind and loving gesture, or subtle encouragement, or a loving embrace, or an offer of comfort, not to mention hospital gurneys and nose plugs, an uneaten Danish, soft-spoken secrets, and Fender Stratocasters, and maybe the occasional piece of fiction.