She first started getting worried when she noticed that Timmy didn't have much energy. Jennifer was used to seeing her ten-year-old son playing outside, running, climbing, throwing a baseball ... but he'd been spending more and more time inside the house, and he didn't look good.
The doctor did some tests, and suggested that Jennifer get a second opinion, which she did. And it was confirmed: her son was dying of cancer.
She kept him in school as long as she could. The chemotherapy didn't help. She began taking time off from work so that she could spend as much time with Timmy as possible.
One day Timmy asked her, "Mom, what's it like to die?"
Jennifer began explaining to him about Summerland and the Goddess and karma and reincarnation, but he interrupted her.
"Yeah, Mom, I know that. That's what happens after you die. But what's it like when you actually die?"
Jennifer thought about it for a few seconds. She wasn't prepared for this question. "Timmy, let's talk about it tomorrow."
He ambled off to bed.
At the breakfast table the next morning, Jennifer waited for what she thought was the right moment, and cleared her throat nervously. "Timmy, remember last night when you asked me about dying?"
He nodded.
"Well ... you know how sometimes you stay up late with me, sitting on the couch, and you fall asleep in front of the TV?"
"Yeah."
"And when you wake up the next morning, you're in your own bed, safe and warm, and you don't know how you got there?"
"Yeah."
"Well, there's a reason that you end up in your own bed. It's because I carried you there. It's because there's somebody who loves you and takes care of you."
He nodded his head.
"One day, Timmy, you're going to fall asleep. And when you wake up, you'll be ... in a different place. Because the Goddess loves you, and she's going to take care of you. That's what it's like to die."
