A Gift from a Son Who Died
GIFT FROM
A SON WHO DIED
by DORIS HEFIOLD LUND
It s not the way I thought it would be
l
thought the sun and the moon would go oui. I thought ioy itself would die when Eric died. He had given so much to all ot us his family. his iriends And yet his death is not the end oi ioy after all lt s sornehow another beginning. . lour' Eric died at twenty-two. aller a ahd-a-half -year struggle with leukemia.r While he left tls with the deep bruises ol grief, he left us sg much more So much to celebratel There's a victory here that I m still lrying io understand Why do l, even in loss, leel stronger? Why does life on lhis untldy, dangerous planet seem more wonderfullY Precious? I am
conscious now ol the vaiue of each good moment, the imPortance oi wasting nothing. These lhings are Eric's gilts to me. They weren't easily bought or qui6kly accepted. And noi all came iied with ribbonst manY were delivered with blows ln addition to leLrkemla, Eric was suffering from adolescence. And there were iimes when this condition took more oui of us than his other one A seventeen-year-old boy who may not live to become a man is suddenly in a great
hurry. Like a militant new nation he wants instant lndependence and no comprornises A{ier the ilrst few weeks Eric qulckly took charge oi his illness l was no longer to talk io the doctors ln
Nraga' ne Copvrighl e)
issra ol CloL] fl.useLe'Aliii lror rlc boo" I fb/ oolr L.no as reooer'e l ':te April 1973 ,r7i,-,h. Ee st co !o'r'"r
Ad"otpd
Gilt,rom a Son Who Died
/
Book one
/
199
lact-the message came through clearly-l was no longer to talk at all unless lcould avoid sounding like a worried mother. Perhaps it would have been dilferent iJ we'd had a chance l(J preparo tor whal was coming. but it was a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky. We live in a small ConnocticLlt town, just a block from the beach. This had been a summer Iike many others. The front hall was, as usual, full ol sand and kicked-of t sneakers, mysterious towels thal
A SON WHO DIED
by DORIS HEFIOLD LUND
It s not the way I thought it would be
l
thought the sun and the moon would go oui. I thought ioy itself would die when Eric died. He had given so much to all ot us his family. his iriends And yet his death is not the end oi ioy after all lt s sornehow another beginning. . lour' Eric died at twenty-two. aller a ahd-a-half -year struggle with leukemia.r While he left tls with the deep bruises ol grief, he left us sg much more So much to celebratel There's a victory here that I m still lrying io understand Why do l, even in loss, leel stronger? Why does life on lhis untldy, dangerous planet seem more wonderfullY Precious? I am
conscious now ol the vaiue of each good moment, the imPortance oi wasting nothing. These lhings are Eric's gilts to me. They weren't easily bought or qui6kly accepted. And noi all came iied with ribbonst manY were delivered with blows ln addition to leLrkemla, Eric was suffering from adolescence. And there were iimes when this condition took more oui of us than his other one A seventeen-year-old boy who may not live to become a man is suddenly in a great
hurry. Like a militant new nation he wants instant lndependence and no comprornises A{ier the ilrst few weeks Eric qulckly took charge oi his illness l was no longer to talk io the doctors ln
Nraga' ne Copvrighl e)
issra ol CloL] fl.useLe'Aliii lror rlc boo" I fb/ oolr L.no as reooer'e l ':te April 1973 ,r7i,-,h. Ee st co !o'r'"r
Ad"otpd
Gilt,rom a Son Who Died
/
Book one
/
199
lact-the message came through clearly-l was no longer to talk at all unless lcould avoid sounding like a worried mother. Perhaps it would have been dilferent iJ we'd had a chance l(J preparo tor whal was coming. but it was a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky. We live in a small ConnocticLlt town, just a block from the beach. This had been a summer Iike many others. The front hall was, as usual, full ol sand and kicked-of t sneakers, mysterious towels thal