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She pushes open the kitchen door, andat the table I walk up to Daniel first and bend his head back so I can kiss his forehead

“Hey, kiddo”

“Hey, Mo up at

“That looks good, Daniel You can hang it on the fridge e get home”

“This one is for Mrs Tanner She said her kids are too old to color pictures for her fridge anyured I could color one for her instead”

I look up at Mrs Tanner and see her s at Daniel My eyes drop back to him

“Well, that’s awfully sweet of you I bet she’d love that”

“It’ll bring color back to e”

I ruffle his hair before irl in the next seat over

“Hey, sweetie” I bend and place a kiss on top of Kelsey’s head She looks up at me and offers me a small smile with sad eyes, then continues her crossword puzzle For being only eight years old, she’s extreood at them

Whereas Daniel is open and talkative, Kelsey is the complete opposite Unfortunately, her low-key response is normal for her She’s very reserved and quiet For a little over two years, since her father died, she’s only ever spoken twice Once hen she beggedWill back at his funeral, and the other tio when I had the flu She quietly askedto die as well It broke my heart when those words left her lips Not only because of what she asked, but also because I had prayed so hard for her to get better, for her to feel coirl back, and when she finally spoke, her voice was more beautiful than I had reh, because I knew she was terrified she was going to lose another parent

Although she’s only spoken to ht when she thinks only God is listening One day, three weeks after Will’s funeral, I alking by her rooo in and check on her, when her soft words stopped irl kneeling in the htly in prayer and her eyes closed Her whispers, begging God to bring back her daddy, hadon to the doorfraht since then, I’ve listened to her whispered prayers It tears me up inside that she doesn’t come to me, and I know her heart only breaks more and lad she at least feels coh to talk to someone

She has what therapists call selectivefor whatever reason In Kelsey’s case, it was the trau her father dead on her bedrooet her favorite toy At twenty-eight, he had a heart attack from an unknown blocked coronary artery It was a freak occurrence that the doctors say only happen in about 5 percent of young men that have heart attacks For it to happen to Will, someone who’s never had heart problems in the past, and has no family history of heart attacks, the chances were even lower

When Kelsey found him in her room, he was already dead She was six at the time The experience left her trau the doctors can do for her She’s been to several therapists, went through multiple sessions without success, and they’ve all toldI can do is be her ive her emotional support That it’s up to Kelsey if she wants to be heard again I just hope one day she will They’ve also informed me that this may be perive irl isn’t totally lost

I love bothin the world I loved my husband too It’s been a little over two years that he’s been gone, and every day I grieve for hirieve for row to know hirieve for row up