Starting Over, Stone by Stone

We all have to start over at some point. Some of what forces that on us is out of our control — a diagnosis, a storm, a door that closes without warning. Some of it we choose. But if we live long enough, the storm comes regardless. Finances shift. A friend betrays. A death occurs. Someone we love is gone, and the life we built around them has to be rebuilt around the shape of their absence.

I think about that a lot in terms of architecture — literally. How do you build something that can survive a disaster and time and still be standing, still be beautiful, centuries later?