Dear Brady, Happy birthday up there in heaven. Seventeen today. To be honest, I can’t even imagine what it would be like to celebrate your birthday anymore (in the normal way, not the obligatory-visit-to-the-gravesite way). For your last birthday before your death, we went out to dinner with the extended family, and then we headed... Continue Reading →
Dear Brady, It's been three years. You should be sixteen, driving, wrapping up your sophomore year in high school. Thinking about college, maybe working a part-time job, any number of what everyone else sees as inane activities. Instead, you’re a pile of ashes buried next to a stream, under a maple tree, with a lake... Continue Reading →
Sometimes I scroll through my own Facebook page, as I’m sure many (Someone? Anyone? Bueller?) of you do. And each time, I think, holy shit, my friends must think that therapy I’ve been going to on the reg for heading toward three years now isn’t helping much. Because my Facebook page sure does seem… quirky.... Continue Reading →
Dear Brady, Happy Birthday. You should be sixteen today. We should be going to the DMV to get your driver’s license. You should be a sophomore in high school. I wonder if we would have figured out a way to give you a car for your birthday? I wonder if you would still be in... Continue Reading →
Since March 15, 2016, I’ve inadvertently explored a wide gamut of emotions, the strongest, of course, being sadness. I’ve been so deep, wallowing so desperately in it that I could almost understand what my son was going through, in his head, when the monsters won and convinced him leaving this life was better than living... Continue Reading →