A Privilege

Right now, we are dealing with the somewhat unexpected demise of my father-in-law. He was advanced in age, but was in fairly good health for his age and had no immediately life-threatening medical issues that we knew of. Nevertheless, we found him dead in the garden of his daughter, apparently from a fall, whether caused by some sudden medical condition or not.
I am an in-law in this situation. I’ve been through the drill with my being in the middle of things with my mother and dad. It’s interesting to kind of sit back this time and just watch and absorb. I also know that I can say some things some times and what I have to say will be welcome. The children may or may not take my advice, and that’s as it should be. I’m just glad I can feel like I can offer it.
I’ve been with this family for over 35 years. I know them all pretty well. I’ve not been surprised to any great extent by anything I’ve seen in the past couple of days, and I don’t expect to be greatly surprised by anything I’ll see in the next couple of days. Nevertheless, as a student of people and their behavior, I am intrigued.
The family has grown considerably since I first came into it. There are cousins and such that I’m not sure I would recognize if they appeared at my doorstep. There are other cousins that I’m not sure I could say their names. But it’s the siblings that are on center stage, so to speak. I’m married to one of them.
To those of you who know of our family and our situation, and have expressed sympathy; thank you. To those who don’t, that’s OK. We’ll come through this and will be all the stronger for having passed through this valley. I’m privileged to be part of this family.