I am sorry I haven't revisited or responded to all of you. I have been living in a hospital, and trying to make sense out of all this.

Ciara is a wonderful kid, with a very big heart, and loved by all who know her. This tragedy is going to take a toll, but my baby has enough heart to spare some.

I must tell you about some remarkable people. Terra's family, shattered at the loss of their baby, and yet they are concerned about Ciara. We will grieve the loss of this daughter together. They have made special time for us to come and grieve together. There are no recriminations, nothing but love and concern for the little girl left behind. I am almost overcome by my grief for them, and for our own loss of the little girl who claimed our guest room and left the blanket that Ciara now will not sleep without.

Community. I have spent a lifetime working in communities around this country. They have names, like Phoenix, Houston, Sioux Falls, Philadelphia. Or so I thought. Those are just place names. Community is the 15 kids that showed up yesterday from a little town 40 miles away to tell my daughter they are here for her. Community is the little girl and her Mother who loved Terra, and showed up in the intensive care unit at almost midnight and asked the nurse if they could just check on her. Community are the 6 mothers that show up every day from such a long way away just to be here for our family. Community is the Protestant and Catholic churches both praying and rallying the kids to my kids support.

Community is a bunch of good folks, from all over the world that come to this site each day and check if there is anything new. It is prayers and good thoughts from Christians, Jews, Moslems, Pagans, agnostics and atheists for my little girl. It is old friends and old antagonists, all laying it aside to care about my little girl.

I am a big man, and I usually am the one who grabs a problem by the throat and chokes the life out of it. But today, I am just a guy who could not cope, and might have broken in the face of all this .... were it not for community. I am choking on tears for what my sweet kid has to face. But we will face it together ... strengthened by the love, prayers, and good wishes or our friends and family ..... our loving community.

Thank you...... its all I can think to say.

Love,

Mick