By the time the meeting at Heritage High School was over, tears had been shed, tissues had been passed around and student Jeff Herman got to see photographs of the smiling baby who had inspired his homework.

"We really miss our girl," said Caldara, who consoled his wife of nine years, Mara Kelly.

"It's horrible," Kelly said. "We wake up, we realize she's dead and then we try to get through the rest of the day."

Parker Kelly Caldara died Nov. 13, eight days shy of her first birthday, from a type of brain tumor so rare that only about 150 cases a year are documented worldwide. She died within days of being diagnosed.

Parker's death came at the same time language teacher Joy Cornell assigned her fourth-year French students to take a current event and turn it into a poem using the style of French poet Jacques Prevert.

Herman, an admitted B to C student, surprised himself and his teacher with his effort.

First, he completed the assignment. Then he wrote another poem in English for Parker and her parents. Then Herman also drew pictures of the little girl whose picture he had never seen.

"I was very impressed with the effort he put in to it," Cornell said. "He put more into it than I expected him or the students to do."

She wanted Parker's parents to have Herman's homework. The Boulder couple was delighted to talk about the little girl who had briefly brought so much joy into their lives.

Caldara, 37, is the executive director of the Independence Institute, which bills itself as a free-market think tank. His passion had been politics until the birth of his first child.

Kelly, 36, worked in the insurance industry for a while and sought to find her niche. She found it Nov. 21, 2000.

"She said, 'This is the happiest day of my life. I could do it again,' " Caldara said. "Mara was the best mother. That's the reason this kid was walking and talking so early."

Pictures show a little girl with eyes so blue they are startling. Here's Parker the day she was so proud of unraveling the roll of toilet paper. Now she's in the pool with Mommy. There's Parker and Daddy in the pumpkin patch.

Every picture shows beaming parents.

Jon Caldara and Mara Kelly do not smile much these days. Caldara's classic one-line zingers are rare. He's still not back at work full-time.

They cope by attending grief counseling appointments and try to restrain themselves when well-meaning strangers say, "You'll heal in time."

But they managed a few laughs in between the tears Tuesday as they talked with Herman, who struggled with his French pronunciation as he read the poem. Kelly tried to assist him.

Oh, you speak French, she was asked.

"She kisses that way," Caldara said, a touch of his old self returning.

Herman said it's an assignment he'll remember for a long time.

"Usually they don't turn out this intense," he said.