I’m wrapping up my work day and preparing to head out to meet my dad, brother and niece for dinner. Today is Katy’s 12th birthday. She’s 12. How did that happen already?

The first family birthday celebration since Katy’s Grandma passed away will be a bittersweet one, I expect. But it’s a day to celebrate, and to that end, I offer up again the tribute to Miss Kate’s birth in my 1995 essay, New Life.

Happy birthday, Katy!