Dear Friend,

Please forgive my delay in writing and make no mistake it was not for lack of appreciation, I had not expected to hear from you and it was a truly pleasant surprise. It has been my exhaustion that has kept me from picking up a quill sooner.

I think you of all people may appreciate the circumstances of my daughter's arrival into this world, certainly more so than my husband and family.

Do you recall the night of July 10th? I suspect you may remember the moon at least for it was full and bright. I have few particular talents of which to boast and though I would not call it a talent per se yet I do possess a curious propensity for occasional somnambulance. So it was that I awoke to find myself standing outside with no recollection of how I came to be there but I knew it to be a portentous moment at once. It was thus under a full moon that Juliet Luna made her entrance into the world.

I hope she will be my last, it seems a fitting way to end.

I must thank you for the exceedingly thoughtful gift. I suspect I will be housebound a little while longer but perhaps it will not seem so long a duration now that I have your mirror. I confess it perturbs me somewhat to imagine using it, to converse with someone through a looking glass and to think you were seeing me too! I cannot fully explain why it is strange to me but I suppose all new things are strange at first.

Please forgive me for leaving my gratitude until last, I really ought to rewrite it but I judged from the tone of your letter that you might overlook my faux pas on account of how long I have already made you wait, and I am too weary to write more today.