Ah, Christmas, the season of joy and warmth, of gifts and traditions and family. It’s a heartwarming time of year.
But not for everyone.
For some, this time of year brings extra pain, the reminder of lost loved ones. This season, I find myself thinking of them, of the hundreds of families in France and Kenya and Nigeria, and elsewhere around the world, whose loved ones stolen away by hatred, leaving an achingly empty seat at the table. (more…)
Dear France,
I’m so sorry for the horror you went through yesterday. You suffered a massive loss, a painful wound. You were struck by a faceless enemy who thrives on inciting fear, who dwells in the shadows and strikes without warning.
The same enemy attacked my country. And I can tell you, your country will never be the same. (more…)
I was about eight when I encountered my first corpse.
It was at the funeral of a woman my grandmother knew, the woman from whom we’d bought our piano. Which apparently meant we owed her the courtesy of attending her funeral. My brother was the one who’d been playing piano since he was about five, and as luck would have it, he had a piano lesson. Convenient excuse. So I got to represent the family by attending the funeral with my grandmother.
Attending my first funeral would have been disturbing enough. But this one had a viewing. That’s right, everyone filed up to stare at a corpse. Because that’s not weird at all. (more…)
Dear Bridget,
At this point in your life, you’ve no doubt heard a lot of lectures about authority. About how you should respect authority figures. And you’ve got a lot of those—teachers, parents, friends’ parents, etc. But as you get older, those authority figures will become fewer and fewer.
Don’t get me wrong, there will be plenty of people who will attempt to be authorities. But here’s a secret: once you’re an adult, you get to have more control over who’s an authority in your life. (more…)