Friday, May 3, 2013

"The Sadness of the Short Obituary"...Part 2

A year and a half ago I wrote about an obituary for one Caleb Christiansen, of California, whose obituary I happened upon accidentally via his mother and another Janet Christiansen sharing the same name.

See, I have a Google Alert set up for "Janet Christiansen--of North Carolina--who was murdered and is interred in a cemetery about half a a mile from my home.  Although she is a stranger to me, I pause there from time to time to bring flowers, and have previously blogged about reflections on her death, most recently here.

Anyway, turns out I was right about the short obituary for Caleb, not that it gives me any satisfaction.  He apparently struggled with drug abuse and died of an overdose (the link is to a story of the criminal prosecution of the dealer who sold Caleb the drugs).

The empty, senseless hole left in that family will never quite heal.  The death of a child, regardless of age (Caleb was 21) is an event that no parent ever wants to face.  My heart again goes out to that family that they may find peace.

When I run tomorrow I'll place an extra flower in the cemetery--one for Janet, and one for Caleb.  I have some mighty fine daffodils right now that are simply beautiful.

 

 

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