I’ve always tried to go in my own direction and extract fun from situations that might otherwise incite anxiety. I learned this from my mother, a painfully shy woman who’d been dubbed “the bashful blond” in school, and who also had a flair for (quietly) hosting unique gatherings. Despite a childhood filled with tragedy and an adulthood with constant disappointment and health complications, she was a practical joker who never missed April Fools Day. In what I suppose was an inheritance of her ability to hold opposite feelings at the same time, I was a reluctant figure skater who was constantly injured and hated to train, but I reveled in the spotlight, leaned into unique choreography, and designed one-of-a-kind costumes.…