Maggie seemed fine with the silence as she slipped under the sheets, and as she snuggled up next to me we could hear the foghorns from the barges out on the Mississippi, a lonely but beautiful sound. It was with this that we both drifted off to sleep.

Kind of half asleep now, somewhere in the back of my mind I was seeing the image of the little girl who had mysteriously appeared and then disappeared in “Maggie’s” church. As I recalled more about that strange encounter, I remembered that the girl was wearing a necklace. Startled, I abruptly snapped awake and the memory became clear to me—the little girl in the church sanctuary who had come to me those many months ago was wearing Mama’s medallion, the very same one that was now draped around my neck.

Wide awake now, I began to stroke Maggie’s hair and I softly said, “Baby, baby, wake up. You’re not going to believe this.”