(Laughter) And I read her everything that I could, and we laughed, and we loved it, and it was the most important stage that I've ever stood on, surrounded by family, by remnants of a people who were given as a dowry to a relentless war but still managed to make pearls of this life; by the ones who taught me to not only laugh, but to live in the face of death; who placed their hands across the sky, measuring the distance to the sun and saying, "Smile; I'm gonna meet you there."