Making sense of a senseless death

All too often, we read about sad events such as the death of Natalie Fossier, the 9-year-old Clermont County girl who was killed by a falling tree branch while walking her dog outside her home Tuesday afternoon. Such a terrible story inevitably generates various comments and questions along these lines: How can a loving God allow such things to happen? Is this part of a plan or just another random act of an unfeeling universe? What does this tell us about our own mortality? How do we talk about such events with our children, particularly when they're so local and involve another child?

Today's news story on Natalie's death has generated this kind of discussion in its SpeakUp! comments section, and we'd like to continue that discussion on the Editorial Page. Add whatever thoughts you might have to the story or this post, or e-mail me at rcooklis@enquirer.com (please include your name, neighborhood and a contact number) and we'll add your perspective to the conversation.