While my stepson is at the age where those in his circle are getting married and having babies, those in my age group are going through divorces and experiencing the increase in deaths that hit close-to-home. This phenomena seemed to hit hard five years ago, when the death of my stepdad hit my world.
Papa’s passing was that experience that first made me realize that those who I expect will be around forever (or at least until my own kids are grown) won’t necessarily be there. Papa’s death was just the first. In the years that followed, his absence was felt at the family gatherings, holidays, sporting events, celebrations, devastations, and today.
