Skip to main content
Alpha's father died this afternoon. Very sudden and totally unexpected.

A huge loss for his family, who loved him dearly, and for all those who had the good fortune to have known him. He was a remarkable man in so many ways... a formidable intellect, a raconteur who could liven up the dullest of gatherings, a kind heart, a husband of over 40 years, father to five children and grandfather to six... he was a powerful presence who will never be forgotten.

Rest in peace, Paul. You will be greatly missed.

Comments

divrchk said…
You have my deepest sympathies. I can't even imagine. My thoughts and prayers are with you and yours.
Manhattan Mama said…
Our hearts and love are with you all.
Kate B. said…
Thank you so much.

You know, the worst thing is seeing the man you love in so much emotional pain. And the annoyance is that all those words of reassurance you want to say come out sounding like the worst kind of cliches. I wish I could take some of Alpha's pain and carry it for him, but I can't.

In some ways it's harder to deal with than when my grandma died last year. Because, if this makes any sense, that was my pain... for me to deal with and work through. All I can do now is watch and try to help Alpha through this but in truth I can't really help much, except by loving him.
Anonymous said…
That's enough - you are his rock.

Popular posts from this blog

Apologies for being incommunicado this week and hope none of you out there are too distraught not to be receiving the usual almost-daily MotV missives. The reason for the silence is that I'm up to my neck, metaphorically-speaking, in research papers for my first grad course assessment. This experience has made me realise how rigorously un-academic I am in my thinking. It has also illuminated how reliant I am on red wine in order to get through endless evenings typing furiously on my laptop, not to mention the fueling of increasingly colorful curses that I feel obliged to aim at the University's online library system which consistently refuses to spit out any of the journals I'm desperate for (I refuse to believe this is 100% due to my technical incompetence...) Oh well, if this is the price one has to pay in order to realize a long-cherished dream then it's not all that bad... No one ever said a mid-life career change would be easy. Wish me luck!

A thought

Perhaps sometimes a gift can be delivered in the guise of a tragedy. It's just a matter of perception, after all. I suspect that the talent lies in looking beyond the surface to what lies beneath and beyond. And, of course, being able to make sense of it all and going on to apply that knowledge to building a productive way forward. Here's hoping.

It's my party and I'll cry if I want to

A friend recently emailed me to say that her big memory of her stay with us last year is that she had a great birthday, one of the few where she didn't 'act like a spoiled grumpy princess'. She tried to give me all the credit but as I explained to her, it was all down to having a fellow female organising the birthday fun rather than leaving it to her partner. Her email got me thinking about birthdays and how very different men and women are in their attitudes to celebrating special occasions. It also had me thinking about my birthday two years ago when I threw a major tantrum in the Carrefour car-park after being told that we were off to do the weekly shop, kids in tow, which was simply the final straw at the end of a very uninspiring day. In contrast, my birthday last year was rather lovely (a morning on my own in a spa with no mobile coverage, pure selfish bliss). This year - in a few short months, eek! - I'll be hitting the grand old age of 38. This will be my las...