“Do you have time to read?” My colleague Daan knows me. Either I'm working, or I'm surrounded by three underage types who are always hungry. For food or cuddles. I read this book in eighteen hours.

The story was familiar to me. Colleague Carolien Spaans, recently married, just gave birth, lost her Jean Michel. Just like that. Suddenly. He went snowboarding with friends and walked into a glacier crevice. Unintentionally. Two rusty signs should have warned him. They didn't.

Carolien wrote their story. How she wobbled and stood still. How she became singular. And how the tube with Jean Michel's ashes served as a perfect base for Lukie's baby monitor. This way she could see him just right. And oh yes, when she had a date, the tube moved to the nursery. But most of the time there was no date, and she took her bay to bed with her. “It's only nine o'clock, but with the curtains closed I can pretend it's midnight.”

This story had to be told. For Lukie, for us, but especially for Jean Michel. Her last sentence reads: “Just let me know what you think.”

Carolien, for what it's worth, I found it masterful. And I thank you.