Every night as Ryan rocks his six-month-old daughter to sleep, he says a prayer that he hopes will shape their relationship for years to come: “Dear God, help me remember who she is.” It’s easy to see the innocence and wonder in a newborn, but what happens as the years pass, disagreements arise, and our ideas about the people we love begin to overshadow who they really are? Ryan reflects on the stories we accumulate about one another, the ways those stories shape our relationships, and the possibility of seeing even the most familiar people through entirely new eyes.

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