Mourning Someone Who Has Died

[jack]

it is not a child's job to take care of a grieving parent, although i may get flack on that.  each of them inhibits the other from expressing their feelings out of concern for the other.  IF your home does not prohibit and has areas separate from the rest, make the offer.  if not offer a tea break and a chance to unload privately, without forcing the conversation.  there are 24 hours in a day to be comforting, taking one of those hours away is not abandonment, and that's how you might approach it.  it is better to make an offer that is refused than out of an abundance of nicety do nothing.  bringing easy to keep and use food is always appreciated, but pretty much everyone does that.  when my father died i was surprised at how much help all those damn casseroles were.  i wasn't overcome with grief, but cooking was the last thing i wanted to do.

whatever you do, i am sure it will be kind, and it will be appreciated at some juncture.

[Miaisland]

Thank you, Jack. Your words and concern is of help to me.

The problem right now is that the mother is in a very bad shape as she got sick on top of everything. Until now they had relatives around and they are all of course in shock. The mother now got a stomach flu with fever and last night she even fainted. I just had some FB contact with her when she told me this. As I can be there in two minutes I could at least offer to just bring a cup of tea to her...

Right now maybe the daughter's concerns for her mother is mostly that she is scared that something could happen to her mother too. It seems as if the daughter wants to go on with soccer practice and of course the end of the semester week that is starting now takes her attention too. Once the semester is over I guess a lot can change.

Thank you for encouraging me to offer the help, the place for the daughter and possible help in other ways too, no matter if it will be refused. I also think that it will be more after the funeral and when the school semester is over that I might be able to be of some help. I hope I can. And I guess that even if my offers would be rejected it is probably better to know that there are next door neighbors that really are ready to be there than the opposite...

[Ennis Del Mark]

Mia,

Just let them know that you are there for them, if only to listen. 

[Miaisland]

Yes, if I can at least let them know that I am ready to be there in what way I can.

Thank you for caring, Mark. It means a lot to me.

[tfferg]

I'm wondering why this dreadful news I first read in this Gay Star News article is affecting me so much. After all, sadly and maddeningly, savage, murderous gay bashing goes on all the time and is reported almost daily in gay media.

Interestingly, the Agence France Press-sourced report in our local newspaper (which is not usually homophobic) calls the victim a far-left extremist activist but doesn't mention his role in anti-homophobia and pro-gay marriage campaigns.

Boy, 18, who marched to say ‘Gay Hate Kills’, dies after skinhead attack

(snip)

06 JUNE 2013 | BY JOE MORGAN

A gay rights activist, 18, was proclaimed dead after a brutal attack in France today (6 June).

Clement Méric, a student in Paris, was ‘violently attacked’ by a group of three male skinheads and one woman and left brain dead near Saint-Lazare train station last night (5 June).

He was taken to Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris in a state of brain death, where he died later that night.

Four suspects, aged 20 to 37 and believed to have links to extreme right movements, were arrested.

An avid anti-fascist protester, he has rallied against anti-gay violence and marriage equality which was passed into law last month. His savage murder has provoked horrified reactions across France.

A vigil and a rally against violence in honor of Méric will take place in Paris tonight (6 June).

As The Local reports, a number of eyewitness reports as well as a police source quoted by TFI television indicate a group of left-wing activists had gone clothes shopping on Wednesday evening in Paris.

When the skinheads entered the same shop in the 9th district of Paris, there was an argument between the two groups.

As Méric left the store he was hit by man wearing what appeared to be knuckle-dusters, according to initial reports.

In a statement, the Parti de Gauche (Left Party) said the ‘horror of fascism has just killed right in the middle of Paris’.

Leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon has called on the far-right groups to be disbanded who have ‘committed numerous acts of violence in Paris and across the country’ in the last few weeks.

Serge Ayoub, the nicknamed ‘Batskin’ leader of the Jeune Nationaliste Revolunnaire (JNR - Revolutionary Nationalist Youth), a neo-Nazi skinhead group, has denied involvement in the attack.

‘That’s absolutely false,’ he said.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, called the attack on the young student repulsive and detestable but said groups such as the JNR had no ties with her party.

When asked by RTL radio why one of the attackers was seen wearing a top with her party’s logo, she reacted angrily.

‘Making this kind of association is scandalous, I’d like to know very much who this witness is,’ Le Pen said. ‘You have no proof at all.’

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has vowed to ‘eradicate this kind of violence, which bears the mark of the extreme right.’

In a statement, liberal party Europe Écologie Les Verts (Europe Ecology-Greens) said: ‘It is high time that those who have recently spoke of hate speech and violence are thinking about the consequences on the disturbed minds of violent fanatics.’

After the attack, images emerged of Méric marching against anti-gay violence on 17 April. The banner he held read: ‘Homophobia Kills’.

[killersmom]

Esther Williams, 91 passed away on Thursday.

RIP

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/swimming-champion-movie-star-esther-williams-dies

[suelyblu]

Sir Henry Cecil died today after battling stomach cancer twice. Best horse trainer ever and was what could be called a true gentleman.
R.I.P.  Henry.....the racing world will be sadder place without you there.

[Tigs]

.....and there was me looking for the like button

doh!

[suelyblu]

Such sad sad news about James Gandolfini who died today of a massive heart attack. Only 51 years old.
Brilliant actor.....so believable in everything he did.....and not just "The Sopranos". He will be missed.
R.I.P. James.