A Broken Heart
How do you help a child cope with the loss of her best friend? I wish I knew. Vivi and Charlotte have been inseparable for years. They spend hours playing together, sharing secrets, and planning sleep overs and dance parties. Charlotte, who is two and a half years older, proudly proclaimed that she and Vivi are like sisters because they "have blue eyes and almost exactly the same hair except that Vivi's is curly and brown and [hers] is straight and blonde." Vivi says they are sisters because Charlotte saw her when she "was just three days old." They love each other and that affection is frequently expressed in love notes Vivi draws for Charlotte and the way Charlotte looks after Vivi on the school bus. This is my daughter's first love affair and it is ending. Charlotte is moving... to New Zealand. I adore Charlotte and her family. I feel like I am a better mother because Charlotte's mother sets such a great example for me. ...