I smiled, but I didn’t even need to smile. My veins were filled with light. An uncomplicated, inexplicable joy surged through me, taking me by surprise. I tried to keep it in my peripheral awareness. I knew how happiness slipped into the present only in bright, brief flashes. Most of the time, it belonged to the past or to the future: “I was happy” or “I will be happy” and not, or almost never, “I am happy.” Even trying to savor the moment tinged it with nostalgia.
