In the 1950s, a hospital in Michigan began bringing ducklings into the children’s ward. Medicine was making progress—there were glimmers of hope in treating illnesses like polio—but many of the children were facing conditions we still didn’t fully understand, with few reliable treatments or cures....
We were seated near the front of the church, in the second row. It was Easter morning, and the sanctuary was packed—people shoulder to shoulder in floral prints and pastels. Children clutched plastic eggs in sticky hands, some wearing sparkly bunny ears that wobbled when...
It started small—just a bit of sinus pressure. But it didn’t go away. The aching crept across my face, made it hard to sleep, hard to think. I was exhausted, uncomfortable, and increasingly irritated that nothing seemed to be working. And I wasn’t being patient...
There are five Easter Bunnies, or so the story goes. They are the swiftest, the cleverest, the strongest, the noblest, and the kindest in all the land. And on the night before Easter, these five bunnies race to deliver eggs to children all over the...
There’s a little coffee shop in Chicago that writes messages on the cardboard sleeves of their cups. Have a beautiful day. The world is better because you’re in it. Hope something wonderful finds you today. Each one is written in a different hand, with a different pen. Sometimes they...
Off the coast of the Pacific Northwest, orcas have been spotted wearing salmon as hats. They appear to be plucking dead fish from the water and balancing them on their heads like a fashion accessory, gliding through the sea with what looks suspiciously like delight. No...
We don’t talk enough about the in-between—the part where we’re considering change, but the way forward isn’t clear. It’s easier to celebrate the finish line, the moment a goal is achieved. But there’s something just as worthy in the messy middle. It takes real strength...
The girls had a dentist appointment after school, so we were sitting together in the waiting room, flipping through old magazines. Across the room, a man was cleaning the oversized fish tank—one of those bright, bubbling displays meant to make waiting feel a little easier....
There are folded pieces of paper on the passenger seat of my car, wedged between a tangle of charging cords, a Kindle, a laptop, and an iPad. One is a storm of scribbles—half-formed sentences, words crossed out in frustration. The other is a kids’ menu,...
The forest is full of quiet generosity. Trees, often thought of as solitary, are in constant communication beneath the soil, sharing resources in ways that keep the entire ecosystem alive. Scientists have discovered that when a tree is cut down, the surrounding trees respond. Their roots...