To Olivia and Emma

Today I lit a candle after Mass for Olivia and Emma, and as I touched the flickering flame to the wick, I thought about their two little souls, dancing before the throne of God. I remember them well from my four years at Wyoming Catholic College. I remember them playing with the other professors' children, laughing, dancing.

Life is such a delicate, precious thing, and it can go away so easily. Your life can change in a blink of an eye. All it takes is one stormy day...

On March 18, 2014, Olivia and Emma Lewis lost their lives in a tragic automobile accident. They died peacefully and painlessly in their parents' arms. They were six and three years old. When I think of the pain their parents and their remaining sister, Vivian, are going through, my heart aches. Parents should not have to bury their children. It is not right. But God called them, and they went. We cannot know why. At times like this, faith is hard, but comforting at the same time. They are happy, those two beautiful little girls. I think of Olivia and Emma singing and dancing before the throne of God. The thought doesn't make my tears any less, but it gives some comfort.

A friend recently said, "Would our grief be too great to bear if others, here and in heaven, did not bear the sorrow with us? So, in what little I can offer at this time, I offer up my tears and sorrow in hopes that it helps them with their own." In his novel, "Cry, the Beloved Country," Alan Paton writes, "There is a woman wailing, and an old man crying...but no one calls for silence...for who can stop the heart from breaking?" No, we cannot stop the heart from breaking. And so I pray that even though their hearts are breaking, the Lewis family will peace and consolation through the tears and heartbreak of their friends.

There are no words to express the sorrow we all feel at the deaths of these little girls, but I want to honor Olivia and Emma in the best way I know, and that is through words. I hope that when people read these words, they will think of and pray for those two little girls who were taken so soon from us, and pray for them, and for their grieving family.

Lord, grant them peace. Grant them strength and consolation.

They said that I was beautiful,

They held my hand, and when I fell

They carried me and held me close

Until my tears had gone away.

They loved me more than words can tell,

They loved my smiles, loved my tears;
They loved each part of me.

They held me in their loving arms,

And kissed my quiet brow.

They told me I was beautiful,

And bowed their heads and wept...

The light flowed from his burning heart;

My soul flew lightly as a breath

Of wind to meet my only love.

He knows that I am beautiful,

He holds my hand, and when I fall,

He gives me life when life has gone,

And holds me in his heart.

He loves me more than words can tell,

He loves my being, loves my soul,

And loves me in eternity.

I danced before the throne of heaven,

And all the angels bowed their heads

To hear my voice raised up in song
And see my beauty bright.

And still I dance, and still I sing,

And I am more than beautiful.