Noah holding a plastic dinosaur upside down.
The foundation had helped fund training, family assistance, and research
partnerships.
The numbers mattered.
But I never introduced my family as statistics.
A young mother approached after the program.
Her husband had recently died in a roadway crash.
She looked exhausted.
“I don’t know how you did this,” she said.
I knew what she meant.
I also knew the dangerous answer.
There was no secret strength.
No morning when I woke healed.
So I told her the truth.
“I did the next thing. Then the next one.”
She began crying.
“So it stays hard?”
“Some things stay hard. They don’t all stay this hard.”
I gave her information for a support organization.
I did not tell her everything happens for a reason.
I did not tell her tragedy made me stronger.
Some losses do not need inspirational editing.
After the event, Melissa helped volunteers stack chairs.
