I called my Mom because I wanted to speak with this special girl, but she said they had just left for the pool.

I had been thinking about hearing her voice all day....And I thought of her swimming and how she loves it, and I could just see them in my mind at the pool. And my eyes swam tears......."She's ten, she's ten, she's ten," was the refrain that wouldn't let go. How did she get to be ten?

She is not actually, but she will be in a couple of months. This must be how parents feel. How do they do it? Their hearts must ache with an overflow of love continually. Well, good parents anyway. How do they let go? Maybe it is a really good thing I never had kids. I would have been one of those obsessive parents who follow their kids to school and on the bus. And I can imagine me, standing in the driveway crying buckets.......waving a hankie when they pull out of the driveway and leave for college.

I have a hard time leaving my cats with strangers.

But there she is. And all at once we turned around and she was so tall. Wearing size 10 dresses and impossibly big shoes. When did it happen, and how many moments did I miss in all these years? Silly me, thinking she was still 6 or 7, I tried to pick her up when her feet were burning on the hot cement and almost dropped her. She laughed. Bless her, she has my sick sense of humor.

Is this how God feels about us? After all, every life is sacred, every life is eternal. I know He grieves and misses us when we are away. I know that at the end of a life spent without Him, He aches for what could have been. I know it.

Watch out for her God. I know she has Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa, but sometimes they might miss something.

But you never do. Thank you.