I.

My father died this summer. Now if you are counting, and I am, that would make 5 loved ones in my immediate family in less than 4 1/2 years. Husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law, dog and father. Some of you might take issue with me including our dog on that list but if you are madly in love with your pets, like any rational person is, than you know what a loss that was to my children and me.

After my father died, I was having dinner with a friend who is in her early forties and had not up to this moment in time, experienced anyone close to her dying. “I guess I’ve been really fortunate in that way, ” she observed. But as soon as the words left her mouth, it was if a cloud blew over the sun that was shining down on her because in that moment, a shadow passed over her face as she realized maybe for the first time, that her virgin status in this regard was finite. That her luck would end. She had not escaped this loss, it had only been delayed. Continue reading →