My mother died early yesterday. I've been estranged from the family for quite some time, but I will be attending the funeral tomorrow. It might be a bit more difficult than most funerals; we'll see.
ETA: I'm in shock. The funeral was very nice, and not at all confrontational.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Death in the Family
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8 comments:
Just got back from a trip abroad (break from dissertation writing). I saw a mother flying with her two children, one of whom (a late teens guy) had some kind of development disorder. He was non-verbal, as best I could tell, and also had some sort of motor control problem, albeit a limited one. In any case, what really stood out about them, as I waited to board, was how clearly a family they were, especially as compared to the other families where the children were immersed in electronic gadgetry and the like. Although I'm not sure what to think overall on the matter, I did think that there was at least something enviable in the bond between them, and that made me think of the stories you pass along on here. So, I checked this, and the top post is about family and bonds, and I thought I'd pass along my thoughts, such as they were. So, Randy, sorry about your mother, and I hope that things are otherwise well.
cka
I'm very sorry to hear the sad news.
I'm so sorry Randy. Geez.
Thanks, all.
@cka--That's a great observation. Some parents and kids have amazing bonds; others, not so much. There are a couple of families here in N.O. who still serve as models for how good families should work, despite having circumstances very different from my own. I'm not sure that Tolstoy was right about all happy families being alike, though he probably was right about unhappy families being unhappy in their own ways.
Also, let me know what's up with the academic program. The supervisor in the Hall of Married Men (de jure and de facto) has asked me on several occasions. Funny how people made their office selections when we moved to the new offices a couple of years ago. Most of the married guys ended up on one hallway, without even noticing that fact until after the move.
You and your family are in my thoughts, Randy.
Hall of Married Men. What a great name.
I've written at the c-place, too, but I wanted to say here, again, how sorry I am about your mother. I hope you are able to make it work OK.
R,
I'm still in London, and I've got about another month here. I'm trying to get a dissertation draft together. Political philosophy, John Rawls, whether he can set forth a decent reason for considering political principles at least somewhat independent of moral principles generally (or, more precisely, responding to one particularly objection to his claim that some principles apply in political contexts but not elsewhere). I'll be returning to the regular practice of law at the very end of August.
Also, if I remember right, there probably isn't too much difference between the Hall of Married Men and the Hall of Men, although perhaps the numbers are such that 'the sample size is too small for statistically significant results to be calculated'.
cka
PS - What does 'ETA' mean? I googled it but only found 'estimated time of arrival'. (Well, I also found Euskadi Ta Askatasuna - the Basque separatists - and The Environmental Transport Association, but my guess is you aren't referring to group membership...)
CKA, "ETA" means "edited to add"
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