By turns harrowing, funny and inspiring, the author meditates on what she's lost — the sound of a whisper, seeing a sky full of stars. And she explores what she has found — an exquisite intimacy with those she is closest to, a love of silence, a profound gratitude for everything she still has and a joy in simple pleasures that most of us forget to notice.

Rebecca Alexander, 34, almost completely blind and deaf, is a Ph.D. psychotherapist, spin instructor, volunteer and an extreme athlete. She lives in New York City.