The names of the past rise

Grief arrives in an instant. Healing hides in the shadows.

News traveled at a much slower speed when I was young. It could have been from a phone call, a conversation at the corner store, or through a notice in the newspaper; whatever the means, a message would make its way to us.

Bad news was often met with the same reaction: “That’s awful. He was so young.”

We all knew what it meant before we knew what it was.…