Probate: Life in a Small Town
Army Specialist Jeremy Paul Bouffard died in Iraq this week doing what he volunteered to do - put his life at risk for the policies of the U.S. Government. Jeremy was a native of Middlefield, Massachusetts, population 400 at last count. Crystal Main, the postal clerk, offered a pearl I have thought many times, but could never find the words. Simplest is strongest.
"In a small town, when someone loses a child we're all
losers," said Crystal, "We've all lost something of great meaning."
Today, I am from the small town of Middlefield. Last week, I was from the Utah mining town that lost nine good men to the crumbling Earth. Six years back, I was from New York City, and as we approach another September 11th, I think I may be a New Yorker for life. To be American, is to be from the biggest small town around.
Crystal hit it right saying, when one of us loses a child, we all lose. In my Massachusetts probate work I often meet with families dealing with the loss of their loved ones. Nothing matches the grief following the death of a child.
In my observations, families who have lost their young, speak of what could have been. The flame gone dark, the hope gone. This is quite unlike the passing of an elder. For those families talk about a life well-lived, the roads traveled, the lives touched.
So, be part of the swelling population of Middlefield today. Think of Jeremy and the roads he will never travel. We've all lost a child, something of great meaning.
