Can't Say GoodBye Chap 11-12 CCT

Summer says, "I used to think it was because people fear death. But now I think it is because people can't bear saying good-bye." (page 79)  I think Summer is right. I think back to the people I have known who seemed struggle against death in the midst of terrible pain. I think of those who live in the Christian faith and really believe in a better place on the other side. It really doesn't make sense that they would fight so hard to stay here, unless Summer is right, and they just can't bear to say good-bye. 

At the end of chapter 11, the flapping of a startled owl ushers in a flood of tears and finally an exhaused but peaceful sleep. Then Summer hears the voice of their beloved May, reassuring them that love conquers all. A second passage from the end of this story speaks to the theme of this beautiful little book, "So the Lord let us get old so we'd have plenty cause to need you and you'd feel free to need us right back. We wanted a family so bad, all of us. And we just grabbed onto each another and made us one. Simple as that." (page 87).