The next installment of Merle’s essay is now live. The aim of this series is to hear each other, to listen to the stories of strangers, to think about where they are and how they got there, and in doing so, form a kind of friendship from afar. “Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” —Anais Nin

Let’s meet here, in Merle’s essay. Let’s hear the stories of her different loves—love of home; love of a sister, now passed; love for her daughter and for nature. Let’s hear her hope, her frustration, her self-searching. Let’s listen together. As Walt Whitman said, “We were together. I forget the rest.”

Part II can be found here.