Today my heart is broken.
Earlier this morning, Todd Williamson passed away. He turned 30 a few short months ago and leaves behind a loving wife, a daughter and 10 month old son. Todd was from North Stonington, the town where I grew up, I did not know him personally. I knew of him and then of his cancer through Heidi & Steve. I am sad for Todd's wife and his children; that they now have to make a life without him. I am sad that this young woman is now a widow and single mother. I hear the defeat and grief in my sister and brother in laws' voices; they are trying to be strong. They have lost a friend, a co-worker, a buddy ..... someone with who they shared good times and supported when the road was all uphill.
Paul & I offer to help with Garrett & Olivia so Heidi & Steve can attend the wake & the funeral. It doesn't seem like much but it is the best we have to offer. It is silly to think that any words that we might muster today, will lessen the "punched in the gut" feeling they are challenged to handle.
I just finished reading a short story that chronicles the way a family deals with a sudden death. The father of the woman who has died is struggling to accept and try to understand. He speaks to his grandchildren's counselor and makes the following observation "It is clear, too, that she believes in God and that her God does not intercede in tragedies. ‘But he weeps for them'" This is the God in which I believe, it is that belief that helps me make it through the days like these. For me, it HAS to be this way .... God has to be sharing in the sorrow that is surrounding us now.
Cancer SUCKS.
