In 2018, after my dad suddenly passed away, writing became an anchor for me to cope with the excruciating pain of loss. The Language of Loss is a memoir about that first year, as I navigated the onslaught of changes that came with graduating high school, starting college, and re-learning the person I knew myself to be. In the depths of my heartache, I found grief to be a surprising vehicle for connection, as I developed relationships with friends and strangers alike who were on a similar journey in the aftermath of loss. Becoming Human was written a few years later, as I took stock of the numerous ways my grief was evolving with me. With the themes of connection, longing, and grief at the core of this collection, each vignette represents a particularly impressionable moment in my life. Both books are true labors of love; if you are someone somewhere on the timeline after loss, I hope you find solace and healing in knowing you are never alone.