and I want to be a nurse.  It drives us to go after our dreams.  Something pushes us on, calls our name out until we fulfill it.”

     “You sound so grown up, so wise,” Christine told her daughter sadly, but proudly.

     Dessie touched her ma’s hand, and their eyes met.  The whole world seemed to fade as it was just the two of them, in that room, together, mother and daughter, sharing what seemed to Christine, to be the last few moments of her baby’s childhood, as she watched her break into womanhood in front of her very eyes.

     “I’m growing up, Ma, but I’m not grown up yet.  I have a while to go.  And you’re a lot wiser than me.”

     “I just...

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