Comments on: 584,000,000 Miles

By: M

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 01:06:31 +0000

So beautiful, so real, and so wise. Damn.

By: AT

AT — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:46:09 +0000

Thanks for writing that, Jase.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:27:11 +0000

That made me cry. I always thought people who got to be sad about their family dying in private were lucky. Everyone thought they knew how I felt and was just as sad as I was, and I wanted to scream at them because no they didn’t. Not at all. Except every once in a while it felt like the entire world was giving me a hug.

But maybe it’s harder from your side - to see people not acknowledging when such a huge thing just happened.

By: Magdalena

Magdalena — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 00:49:26 +0000

Sometimes, a lot of times, I don’t comment, because it seems intrusive since I just come to read and then leave, but I feel like I owe you something for sharing this. Honestly. I know you didn’t do it for anyone but Anna, but you can’t possibly know all of the people you are changing due to sharing her life with us.
Your story made me hold my breath and cry and bite my lip and look away; it turned my insides out.
I think you have great courage for talking about her, for sharing her spirit with people who never got to know her, for grieving with your children. The way you remember her is vivid and beautiful.

By: jessica

jessica — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 04:39:22 +0000

Akimbo. That’s it. You know better than many… and now- look!- the limbs, the muscles, the fibre, the sinews~ they are straightening out. It’s amazing to witness. You are more aligned now than akimbo- a year. Thank you for sharing. Namaste, my friend.

By: Kate

Kate — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 19:14:30 +0000

I always wonder, when anniversaries and birthdays and important dates coincide, whether it’s better to have those odd correspondences of happy/sad, or if it would be better for each day to have its own flavor, unmixed.

But it is what it is - and your date of loss was my date of getting my son. Sad/happy, only more so.

By: thordora

thordora — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 21:13:49 +0000

I don’t have the words-being in those rooms with their beeping, the rushed last day, the fush noise of the vent, it’s all there, waiting for me to visit.

I know how hard it was for me. I can only imagine your pain through it, having to be a Dad through it, having to carry on.

My mother knew. She wanted to be home to die, and she was, mostly. Surrounded by her family, old and new, she died on morning in our front room, more or less.

I never got to say goodbye either, but I know she knows all the important things, just like Anna does. I hope Alyssa never doubts that Anna loved her and knew she loved her back. I lived with that on my back for far too long, until I became a mother.

I’ll be mailing your package this weekend. I hope it brings a little solace.

My love and hugs to you.

By: Tricia

Tricia — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:59:24 +0000

Jason, that was very hard for me to read, very blurry there at the end. Those of us who, all of a sudden, have to be strong, realize that no matter what, we HAVE to do certain things,and we HAVE to face these cetain things,never mind that we don’t want to face them. It’s been over 3 years for us now, and there are times when I honestly feel like I can do no more, but then I do it, because it is something I must do, because I am stronger than I think.
Thank you for the detail of her last day in your blog. I needed to read it.
God bless you.

By: karrie

karrie — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:02:26 +0000

I think many of us reading wish we had known Anna. She was beautiful, and you’re carrying her beauty with you.

That day, and the retelling here a year later, must have been indescribably painful for you. Be extra kind to yourself this week, Jason.

By: FuzzyCo

FuzzyCo — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:48:36 +0000

July 29…

Erica and I got married a year ago, on July 29, 2006. We celebrated by taking a day (and-a-half) trip……