Summary

In the Introduction, Michele cradles a patient's head in her hands in the emergency room where she works as a doctor. Medical school does not prepare one for the reality of what it means to be the person responsible for saving a human life as it tries to slip away. Michele does not claim to have special powers or to know how to handle death better than the reader, but her job is to keep death at bay when she can and to be a witness and ferrywoman when she cannot. Michele has learned to cultivate stillness amid struggle, drawing from her experiences with an abusive father and as a Black woman in America. Like most people, she has been broken many times but believes that broken things can be more beautiful for their imperfections and process of healing. With the stories...