Best friend/sister/cousin Annie. Della says: “Don’t let anybody trap you. Annie, Della loves you.”

George says: “Boo boo boo, boo boo boo. I love you, bee bee.”

While the grown-ups were relaxing downstairs, the girls were playing quietly in Della’s bedroom.

Della later told me through sobs, “I made it for you!! I thought you would like it! I thought you would think it’s beautiful because it IS beautiful!!”

She was quick to admit it was her idea. She said Annie had some thoughts about how to hide it, “But we couldn’t hide it.” George offered, “Maybe we could hide it with some tape, Mommy.”

It is clear that Della envisions her new life as flush with freedoms. She woke up this morning singing, “No school, no rules!” and “Walter doesn’t have any rules!”