Their 'firsts' are never quite what they expect, but they all add up to brilliant.

She knows what you need right now, the same thing you need every time you make this masochistic journey: to be put back together again after you fall apart.

The applause still rings in my ears after the congratulations, the glad-handing, the endless intrusions from well-connected backstage interlopers seeking photographs and autographs and snippets of conversation.