I buried my 2.5 year old nephew yesterday. He was a child who required a great deal of attention and he was able to get it through an informal network of friends neighbors and relatives. A community developed around his family that I hope continues to thrive. The strength of his parents was amazing to witness, you never suspect the depth of strength in people until you see something like this. They live up in Vermont so I kind of felt like a tourist going into the burial but I came out a witness to the power of a few good decent people to make the world noticably better with acts small and large. A special mention has to go to a pair of women who work at St Mikes College as day care providers. Finding out that the little brother of two of their kids was in need of care to give his folks respite, they volunteered to help out on a regular basis after working their full day with the other children. He had a Jewish burial with the mourners filling the hole. Its an overused word but closure is what it gives you when you shovel earth on anothers body. I feel that need to be buried touching the earth. A ceremony was held at the Unitarian church afterwords, which was a nice way to include folks of all or no faiths to mourn and celebrate life.
The light moment of the week was provided by the his sister. She is just the cutest little thing petite apple cheeked dark eyes and hair with a sharp wit and a huge smile. She was sitting on the toilet and called out for her Grampa to bring something to read. Grampa brought a Mazzey book saying maybe if you read it out loud Ethan can hear you. She looked at him sharply, "What are you, NUTS!?"
