Jonathan Slater, MD She was 7 years old. She had heard about the war in Iran from an older sibling, and by the next morning she had carried that knowledge, wordlessly, into my office. As her mother sat beside her, she asked the question that had been sitting in her chest all night. "Mommy, are we going to die?" she said, her small brow furrowing beneath brown curls, distress taking over her face. Her mother suppressed a sharp intake of breath, swallowed slowly, and replied: "No, sweetheart.