My parents were teachers with a great sense of adventure. They loved the outdoors, and each summer our family of six piled into the Suburban with tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, and our small collection of 8-track tapes. For months, we wound our way across the country, from Maine to California, sleeping under the stars.

Nothing prepared me for when the stars—my mom, dad, and brother—fell from the sky. They say that breaths come in pairs, except at two times in our lives—the beginning and the end. I don’t believe it. I hold one for each of them.

Looking for light in the darkness, I retraced the cross-country trips of my youth and explored the backroads of Maine. I wanted to rekindle the wonder of my untethered childhood while remembering those I had lost.

Weaving through life and loss, the humble and the magical, the past and the present, The Wild Cosmos grew from photographs and writing, loosely based on journals, field notes, and dreams. This work reconsiders grief as a natural, wonder-filled experience.