“An undercurrent of trauma runs through ordinary life, shot through as it is with the poignancy of impermanence. I like to say that if we are not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, we are suffering from pre-traumatic stress disorder. There is no way to be alive without being conscious of the potential for disaster. One way or another, death (and its cousins: old age, illness, accidents, separation and loss) hangs over all of us.”

Judging by how many Facebook shares this article in the New York Times has garnered, it struck a nerve. My own included. A month ago my brother’s longtime girlfriend passed away unexpectedly, suffering a brain aneurysm in her sleep in the early morning of July 2—my dad’s birthday. She was just 23. Paul bought her a posthumous engagement ring; she certainly would have said yes.

Love may be the mother of all two-sided coins. Taylor, we will miss you so much.