Friday, July 8, 2022
I was a friend of her son Stanley's during grade school. He was the most popular boy in the grade and I stayed over at his house about three or four times over the years. I just remember that she had my respect: even self centered and oblivious as I was at that age, I could tell she was carrying a lot. And that despite it, she was enduring and good humoured about it. It's a sad thing to outlive any of your children. I never had any of my own but I've had close friends and family lose children and have to somehow pick up the pieces and go on. There is a sorrow upon me that a woman of valor like her had to endure that trial on top of everything else. My condolences to Christopher and his family. I barely remember anything about him since he was sufficiently younger than his brother, all that registered was "he seems really kind and gentle, even compared to his brother and mother". Mourning and grieving are hard and the rituals and customs we used to have regarding them have mostly fallen into disuse (with few new ones to supplement or replace them). But he did very strongly strike me as his mother's son and I hope he can take some pride and find meaning in that.
