Today, a short but beautifully expressed letter to the editor, in which the letter writer reassures a grieving father that he is not 'foolish and pathetic' for opening and keeping his deceased son's mail and emails.
A Father's Grief - The Opinion Pages, Letter.
A well-worded message from a stranger.
Read the article this letter is in response to here, 'The Afterlife'.
For Christmas last year, Vanessa gave me the excellent Letters of Note book, which is based on this wonderful blog. 'A Father's Grief' reminded me of a letter in the book that moved me most, 'Sorrow passes and we remain', which was written by Henry James to a friend who had recently lost a family member.
Wow, both the letter and the article that prompted it are so understated, and devastating. I hate the thought that the guff that we waste so much time dealing with in life - bills, junk mail, endless form letters and red tape - ends up outliving us, but I had never imagined it could provide a strange comfort to those who grieve our passing.
ReplyDelete