(c) wisefamousquotes.com
As I often say right here in this space, I am not in the business of telling people what anyone should read. I love reading and believe therefore - undoubtedly with the inherent bias of a true believer - being well-read makes it more difficult for a person to be ignorant than he or she might otherwise be. Unless of course their ignorance is a path well-worn by deliberate design. For that kind of ignorance, there is no readily apparent cure.
This weekend I read a rather extraordinary book, written by a sportswriter whose work on his chosen beat of college football I have read and have appreciated for as long as I can remember. Notwithstanding my long-held appreciation for Ivan Maisel and his way with words, he has not written anything as memorable or as brave as I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye: A Memoir of Loss, Grief, and Love.
Ivan Maisel and his wife, Meg, raised three children. In February 2015, shortly after his twenty-first birthday, their middle child and only son, Max, committed suicide. The book he has written tells a story that is both profoundly intimate, as we learn much about Max and the Maisel family, and universally relatable, as any of us who has ever buried a loved one (regardless of the circumstances of his or her death) will recognize ourselves and steps we ourselves have walked in the days, weeks, months, and years since in those the Maisel family has walked since Max's death. We recognize, too, what Ivan Maisel recognizes and expresses so brilliantly, which is that ours is now a journey whose end shall be reached only at the end of our own life.
-AK
No comments:
Post a Comment