Following Atticus was just a warm-up exercise

Will's Red Coat
by Tom Ryan

A story I'll read again, whenever I need to cry and smile and remember this:

To the right, a tiny red coat with a thick white collar dangles from a hook. It looks a lot like Christmas and is just about the right size for an elf. There is a bit of magic in it. Of this I have no doubt. For that little coat gets me to stop many times each day to consider what matters in life and what it means to be human.

One of the best written first chapters I've ever read is followed by a short and thoughtful story of Tom Ryan taking in an old dog for hospice--to give him a gentle home to die in. All true--but so much more.

And if the fabric of the natural world could inspire humans, we who have often let the comfort of what we've built rob us of what connects us to nature, I imagined Will would find it invigorating.