So much has changed in such a short amount of time. But today I’d like to focus on a ray of sunshine instead. Like so many parents, I became a homeschooling mama overnight and my daughter’s teachers sent home worksheets and online resources. But my heart told me to make education, to the best of my ability, a time of beauty and wonder for my daughter. She says she loves homeschool so I think it’s working. We’re learning about birds and their songs, Vivaldi, dance, poetry, fairy tales, Aesop’s fables. So much art. Tea parties and reading “Alice in Wonderland.” Reading “The Hobbit.” Reading “Little House on the Prairie.” (She’s doing math and writing too, they’re just presented amidst all these other beautiful studies.)

Immersing oneself in beauty and goodness and magic and love is just good for your soul, particularly when your soul is aching. It’s for her, yes—but it’s also for me, you see.

Looking out into our backyard, my daughter said, “The butterflies are back!” A reminder of life and better days to come, and all that is worth fighting for.