The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After

by Julie Yip-Williams

Live while you’re living, friends. From the beginning of the miracle, to the unwinding of the miracle.

The sense that we ever had control over any of this seems nothing but a mockery now, a cruel illusion. And also, a lesson: we control nothing.

Well, that’s not exactly true. We control how good we are to people. We control how honest we are with ourselves and others. We control the effort we have put into living.

We control how we respond to impossible news. And when the time comes, we control th...

You think you have that kind of power, do you? The truth is, there was nothing you could have done. You might not ever be able to reconcile that Julie was at the same time young and vital and also doomed—that it was too late, from the start.

It is in the acceptance of truth that real wisdom and peace come. It is in the acceptance of truth that real living begins. Conversely, avoidance of truth is the denial of life.