Too Little, Too Late

Just when I thought I was going to skate through the rest of the year without falling through the ice, I receive a phone call from my Dad. My aunt, his sister, passed away quietly on Wednesday. Faithful readers will remember this is the aunt I never knew existed until I was a teenager, who was born deaf and blind and spent her entire life in an institution. I pressed my family to take the simple steps necessary to find her, which we did, in October . I regret terribly that I never got the chance to meet her, and, even worse, that neither my Dad nor his brother got the chance to see her before she died. I had no idea she was so ill.

The silver lining in all of this is at least the government worker knew how to get in touch with her family (she is a ward of the court); if we had not made contact with her caregivers I don't know how hard they would have searched for next of kin.

If you have people in your life that you love and you haven't told them recently, tell them today. It might be your last chance.

Peter Gabriel -- I Grieve -- Mp3