My six…almost seven year old granddaughter is one of the most profound thinkers I have ever known. On the night Mr. Virgo was buried, we were sitting at dinner and the divine Miss M sat by me, held my hand and said, “Nana, I am so sorry for what happened to Papa…you must be so sad.” She went on to take her crayons and draw a circle with a cross in it and gave it to me.

“This is for you, Nana.”

“That’s beautiful, honey. What is it?”

“This is for you to put on Papa’s pillow to remind you that he died and didn’t just go on vacation without you.”

That’s is deep on a couple of levels. First, being left behind on purpose is a fate worse than death to a 5 year old. And second, don’t fool yourself into thinking he’s coming back because he’s not. She is a pragmatist, she thinks and feels deeply, and she is six.

We went to the mall for Valentine shoes on Saturday. (Doesn’t every girl need new shoes for Valentine’s Day?) We were looking at pictures over lunch and when we came to one of her Papa, she told me she still misses him. A little later, she was trying on her new cowgirl boots and caught my eye with a very serious look on her face.

“Nana, some good things come out of the worst of times.”

Indeed, they do, Miss M…indeed they do.