“Child, what do you hear in your heart, does it sound like the stillness before dawn, does it sound like the wind making its way to the sea? Can you find your true voice there, the one that says I love you? Can you stop thinking for just a few seconds and let love take over?”

When she stopped, I knew that what she was asking me to do was to just get out of my head and trust everything that had been happening since the day we met Mama Vermillion. And, honestly, it had been nothing short of miraculous. Even though my logical-lawyer mind was reeling, I felt something in my heart open to her words. As we sat there, two people from totally different worlds, I was beginning to understand and feel how much this woman loved me and my wife and child, and for the first time I was totally trusting this love.

Looking at the medallion and glancing back at Mama, I slipped the necklace over my head and quietly said, “Thank you, Mama. I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all anybody can do, child,” she said. “That’s all anybody can do.”