Danielle’s essay, “The Origin of My Laugh” was published on June 16, 2020 in The Paris Review.

Click here to read the full essay.

Excerpt:

When my mother died, her best friend Heidi called and told me, “What I’ll miss most is her laugh.”

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When my mother called me on the phone before she died, she rarely laughed but often cried.

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My mother had four daughters, and I am the oldest. My mother did not raise us…