Ny Man With Severe Deformity Gets New Nose For Christmas

I had worked the overnight shift at Cook County Hospital, twelve hours in pediatric care, and I had come home to a baby who needed holding more than she needed sleep, which meant I was the one sitting in the corner chair at six in the morning with my eyes burning and my coffee forgotten and Grace’s warm, small weight against my chest like the one thing in the world that made sense.

She was three months old.

Her name was Grace, and she had come into the world at a time when I had very little else, which is perhaps why I had chosen that particular name.