25May
Memorial Day, A Story
Posted by JimAfter you become a parent, this holiday takes on another meaning. You begin to look at this kind of loss through the eyes of the survivors.
About twenty years ago I sold a house in Mission Hills , a modest bungalow just down the block from where I live. The seller was a pleasant and reclusive widow; our realtionship consisted of an occasional wave and sidewalk greeting. Once inside her home it was clear she had created a space frozen in time; her life had clearly stopped on some day around 1943 when the telegram arrived. It was if she wanted to will time to move one day, the day before the news arrived. But as I did not have children at that time, the tableau vivant did not resonate with me as it would today. Now I get it.
