“I can’t. I’ve barely started. Ahem. ‘You have no idea how dim the days have grown, without the light of your presence awaiting me at day’s end.’ No, wait.” Ivy screwed up her face. “I can do that better. Your presence. P-resence.” Her attempt to swallow the R in the same way that Zivon would have done made Lily giggle.

“Ivy.”

“Oh, fine, I’ll drop the accent.” She straightened the page. “‘But it has had an effect I never dreamed. The more I am without you, the more alone I feel, and the more the older grief comes upon me. You are right that it is a tragedy I have not fully grieved. To be honest, I am not certain I know how. Whenever I think of it, think of her, think of all the similar stories my colleagues in Russia no doubt have, I am overcome. I find myself crying out, as the psalmist did, for the Lord to fight against those who fight against me. I have been clinging these months to God’s command to be still and trust Him. I am clinging, Lily. But I could see no beauty left in the world. Not until I met you.’ Aww!” Ivy paused to slap a hand to her heart. “That is the sweetest thing in the world!”

Lily picked up one of the extra pillows and hugged it.

“Well.” Ivy laughed a bit as she scanned the next section. “This is not quite as sweet as I was thinking, though you might still think so. He says, ‘You have shown me the beauty in a thousand silent moments. A feather on the breeze. Sun breaking through the clouds. The way a child studies a flower. Moments I never saw before, much less appreciated, are now quiet reminders that God is there. That He has created a world of beauty, and that His will is for us to live in it. Live in this land of the living. Every time you pause to lift your camera, I know it is because you saw something beautiful that I would have walked by without a second glance. And I cannot tell you the difference that has made in my life.’”

Lily drew her lip between her teeth. Much sweeter indeed than praising her own beauty, which was probably what Ivy had assumed he was going to do. She knew her face paled in comparison to others’. But God’s world—that was an endless feast of the truest beauty.