You can't push a rope

Monday morning I sat in a quiet church next to my beautiful seven-year-old dressed in a new pink dress, listened to the organ, and waited. Waited for a pain that was as sure to come as the ache after stubbing your toe.

We sat, sang songs and said “amen,” two things she loves to do. And, although the day was about love, it was also about letting it go.

I helped her say goodbye to her desk-mate, lunch-mate and one of her best friends. Something a seven-year-old shouldn’t have to do.

But life is not based on shouldn’t’s. Not much is impossible or undeniable.

As my young girl sat there maturing be...