Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.

I looked down to grab something out of the center console of my car when something caught my eye. It was a bracelet with alternating blue and white turtle beads separated by small silver beads that belonged to my daughter, Sophie. It was sitting in the bottom of one of the cupholders in my car.

The last time I had seen that bracelet, it was on Sophie’s wrist, and somehow, it ended up in the cupholder, where it must have been sitting for a few months untouched.

I picked up the bracelet, remembering how my daughter loved this and other bracelets. It is one of many I have found since she died.

The bracelet Monday night was a little piece of comfort for me after I got into my car to go home from the Albert Lea City Council meeting.

The council during the meeting voted to install six-month temporary three-way stop signs at the intersection of Frank Hall Drive and Eighth Street. That’s the intersection that forever changed our lives this past July when Sophie was hit by a car while riding a bike in the neighborhood.

Police reports show there were many factors that contributed to the crash that day, and I and others believe that had there been stop signs at that intersection, Sophie’s crash could have been prevented.

I have appreciated the hundreds of people who have supported our cause, whether you lived in the Frank Hall Drive neighborhood or some other location across town or even outside of our community.

A majority of residents on Frank Hall Drive signed a petition in favor of the signs, and more than 200 people from both Albert Lea and other areas signed in favor of permanent changes in an online petition.

Resident after resident shared their concerns with us about the street — and about that intersection in particular — and in the end we found that their comments reaffirmed our efforts for the neighborhood.

I would be lying if I said I didn’t have mixed feelings coming out of the council meeting on Monday.

On one hand, I am grateful the council didn’t dismiss the idea and instead decided to move forward with a six-month trial period. On the other hand, I am exhausted thinking that this effort will continue again in six months.

In the aftermath of Sophie’s death, I hadn’t planned to be out walking streets and talking to neighbors, and I definitely had not planned to be speaking in front of the City Council.

As I reflected on the words that were spoken during the meeting and glanced down at the white and blue bracelet, I felt the tears begin to flow down my cheeks.

Call it a partial victory, if you may, but this battle is not over.

It will continue.

It may be too late for my daughter, but it’s not too late for others.

For me, it’s simple: The signs could save a life.