The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love–whether we call it friendship or family or romance–is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light.

Gentle work. Steadfast work. Lifesaving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed, loving person to beam it back.

In our best moments, we are that person for another.