I wasn’t supposed to have my phone in my room at night, but I had actually forgotten to leave it downstairs in the charging station, and I was too tired to go back down anyway. I grabbed it and flipped through the pictures Aunt Sabrina sent us from the party. We all looked happy and goofy, and I had to say those dresses looked pretty good on us.

My favorite picture showed me in the middle, smiling and sort of spinning, with everyone around me in a circle, laughing.

I looked hard at that shot. I realized as I scrolled through that both my grandmothers were there, both my aunts, my BFF, and all my girl cousins. There was one person who was missing, of course, and that was Mom.

Dad knocked on my door. “From what I heard, it was a pretty good party,” he whispered, coming in.

By the time Sky and Dad came home, the party had wrapped up and all the dresses had been packed up.

“Dad,” I said, then stopped.

“Yes, honey?”

“I missed Mom tonight.”

Dad sat on my bed. “I did too,” he said. “But I heard your dress was her favorite color.” He squinted at it in the dark.

“It’s true blue,” I said, smiling.

“Sometimes,” said Dad, “I’m reminded of Mom in ways that make me feel like she’s still here.”

“Like a ghost?” I said, alarmed.

“No, no,” Dad said. “Like in the way Sky laughs exactly like her, or the way your dress for the dance ended up being her favorite color.”

“Nans says that we’re like donuts,” I blurted out.

“Hmm,” said Dad.

“She says that we have holes in us, and I guess for me that hole is where I miss Mom.”

“Oh, I see,” said Dad.

“But that like a donut’s shape, we’re surrounded by people, in a tight circle, so that hole doesn’t get any bigger.”

“That’s exactly right,” said Dad. “You have so many people who love you. They may drive you nuts, but they love you. And you might not like that they surround you all the time, but they always have your best interests at heart.”

I laid back on the pillow and yawned. Suddenly I felt really tired.

“Okay, young lady, it’s time for bed.” Dad reached over to switch off my night-table light when I noticed a little bouquet of flowers next to my stack of books.

“Hey!” I said, sitting back up.

There were violets and bluebells in a little vase.

“Oh,” said Dad. “Sky found those today when we were fishing. We weren’t sure where to put them when we brought them home, and Mimi thought maybe you would like them.”

I smiled. “They remind me of Mom,” I said.

“They do,” said Dad, smiling back. “True blue.”

“She’s still here, sort of,” I said, yawning.

“She’s always with us,” said Dad quietly.