Last week, my wife and I
had to go to one of those awful funerals. Funerals are never a good thing, but
when someone dies too early or in a way that defies the uneasy accommodations
we make with our own mortality, you don't know what to say or to do. I am not
going to say more to respect the privacy of the family, but it was a bad one. A
very good person taken too soon.
I have come to the view
- schooled by loved ones who have experienced things far worse than I ever have
or, please God, will ever have to - is that the worst thing that you can do is
try to explain or look for "the bright side." The best thing you can
do - and it is so frustrating - is to say that I am sorry and I will help you
in any way that I can.
Early yesterday
afternoon, I left the birthday party of one on my grandsons. Llittle Caleb
Richard Esenberg turned 4 on Saturday and it was just another of those nice
little milestones on a beautiful Sunday. Then I turned on the radio.
I can't think of
anything to say to the families of those who have been lost and wounded other
than that we are sorry and to ask how we can help. I can't think to offer any
more than that suggested by my Purple Wisconsin colleague, Jim Rowen, “prayers
for the victims and the community."
Cross posted at Purple Wisconsin.
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