A Friend In Need is a Friend Indeed

What do you say to someone who suddenly lost a loved one? This is what I said to myself last night after I picked up the Sunday paper. The headline read that a man was accidentally shot in the head while out hunting. The name of the man caught my eye. I instantly scanned the article to make sure my eyes were not tricking me, yes, it was the man I thought it was.

I didn't want to call Dana immediately. I thought "what if she doesn't know yet? I don't want to be the one to tell her". I figured it would be best to wait. Partly because I didn't want to be the bearer of bad news and partly because I didn't know what to say anyway.

I talked to her this morning, and she's broken. I couldn't help myself from crying, I'm just a cryer no matter what the situation is. But I heard heart break in her voice and I lost it. The wounds were still fresh from when they broke up but they had just cleared the air the previous night and made amends with each other. It wasn't a mistake that they had that chance, he was gone the next morning. I'm sure that is at least a bright light in her eyes.

She'll be grieving for a while. And that's ok. There will be a day sometime in the not so distant future when she won't be sad anymore and she can look back on the days she had with him and smile. I never did figure out anything good to say when I talked to her. But I don't think that was the point. You can never say anything good or clever when there is a death. Except that you're there if they need you. And that's probably the best thing to fall on her ears for now.