Hap­py Birth­day, dear­est Janie

Think­ing about two years ago today, get­ting a call in our New York apart­ment, a snowy day, just at wake­up time, and it was Uncle Joel, telling us our niece had been born: Miss Jane Grove, no mid­dle name as all Fred­er­ick­son women are. It was but the work of a moment for Avery and me to pack our­selves up, dri­ve up to Cheshire, Con­necti­cut (I don’t think we got lost more than three times) and be in time to hold baby Jane, just eight hours old, and see Jill, look­ing radi­ant and beau­ti­ful, and Joel already behav­ing like the author­i­ta­tive and lov­ing dad he is. How tiny she was, just stretch­ing out the length of my thigh as I sat down, and how ador­ing her cousin Avery was, and is. We miss you and love you: see you in just a week!