As I continue to reimagine winter, my fear of what it might punish me with has softened into curiosity about what it might offer me.

Even though I’m more than halfway through my twenties, saying goodbye to Dawna felt like riding in the back of my parents’ sedan, sticking my hand out the window and waving a frantic goodbye to my childhood that was now hours behind me in a long car ride that I hadn’t yet gotten comfortable in.