On Saturday we went to our friends' house for a really fun party in honor of the Kentucky Derby. As it came time for the big race, the eight kids and the adults gathered around the TV to catch all the action. Everyone picked a horse to cheer for, and one of the young girls picked Eight Belles as her favorite to win.

At the end of the race we were all still watching the TV and saw that Eight Belles was down on the track. Some of the kids were wondering what was going on and what had happened to her. We were explaining that she had gotten injured and was being taken care of when the announcer said that Eight Belles had been euthanized. The kids didn't seem to pick up on the word and we quickly went into the kitchen and outside to distract them.

While I would have been open to explaining the truth to Benjamin, who was the only one of my kids still paying attention to the race, but not wanting to sadden him or the other kids at the party, I let him believe they were treating the horse and trying to make her better.

He never said another word of it until after church on Sunday when we were enjoying juice and doughnuts at the gathering after service. A man was sitting next to us and joining us in conversation. Benjamin started to tell him about the horse race he watched and the horse that was injured.

"They killed that horse," the man told Ben. "They euthanized her. That means they had to kill her."

Benjamin just sat there not knowing what to say. I felt bad that I had not explained what really happened to Eight Belles just to avoid a situation like this, and I was surprised that the man was so quick to explain to a 6-year-old what euthanasia is.