The e-mail came early this morning, a friend’s update on the difficult family situation he shared two weeks ago that had become a raging storm: pain, fear, loss. And also a time of deep joy; a family coming together over great distances, holding each other and being held.

We are, as Hawthorne writes, beings capable of eternal joy or sorrow, confided to each other’s care. There’s a fantastical story about this in the current issue of The New Yorker, and many more right here among us.