Today a girl's body was found in Vermont. She's been missing a week, and her uncle is accused of causing her death. He is also charged with possession of child pornography in an unrelated matter--as is her stepfather. There is also information on a possible sex ring through the internet, but I'm not clear on that.

But those charges don't matter. The child abuse doesn't matter. Nothing matters in light of death. This young woman will never be an adult female, and she will never know what her life could have been.

In every death, I encourage celebrating the life. Funerals are for the living, those who remain after a person dies. Those living people usually seem to focus on the loss. I can understand this. That grief is too great for many to bear. But, to help get us through that time, we look to the life of the deceased, and we know that they lived a life that experienced much. This is true for everyone.

Yet, this young woman in Vermont is dead and we cannot celebrate the life that should have been. I will try to think of the good things in her life, but it is difficult when I know what she probably went through as time moved forward toward the final day. It is not a pleasant thought. So, instead, I will try to imagine that this girl's death is an end to bad things in her life, and now she is released to no more pain. This is a good thing.

But, in reality, I want her to be alive and to not feel pain. I want her to have it all. But it doesn't matter what I want. She's not going to get any of it. She's dead.

Death is final. And that's not going to change. I hope the person who did this to her knows this. And I pray that this is truly understood. I understand, and it makes me cry--and pray some more.