The Witness

When I approached her, I instantly noticed my favorite view in my limited experience thus far: the face of a proud first-time mother, exhausted but beaming with a radiance of love. She was somehow so familiar and unrecognizable at the same time.

My darling friend, her two-week-old baby girl in tow.

We shared the longest hug — what I interpret as a profoundly mutual and reverent “thank you.” I’ve known her for years, yet it felt like I was meeting her for the first time. I had been missing her since witnessing her give birth two weeks prior.