My “Before”

Grade 10 starts tomorrow

Sunday 23 August 2026 Grade 10 starts tomorrow. Ten weeks ago I finished Grade 9 and…
The parcel

Sunday 23 August 2026 We flew home early this morning. The parcel had been waiting on…
A name, in pencil

Sunday 16 August 2026 The book reaches London in five days. I get home two days…
A book I wasn’t looking for

Tuesday 11 August 2026 We are on holiday. I am supposed to be doing AP Physics…
What’s not yet been built

Friday 7 August 2026 End of Phase 1. The map exists. I have a Google Doc…
Same building, different room

Wednesday 5 August 2026 After the donor-conceived community, I went looking for the surrogacy-born one. And…
The donor-conceived community is amazing — and not for me

Sunday 2 August 2026 Camp ended yesterday morning — one last swim, then bags, then the…
Twelve-hour days

Tuesday 28 July 2026 A quick one, because lights-out is 23:00 and nobody argues with it.…
The plan I’m packing

Sunday 26 July 2026 The internship finished Friday. Yesterday afternoon I flew to Italy for a…
Sleeping on it (mostly badly)

Wednesday 22 July 2026 I did not actually sleep on it. I slept around it for…