Re-posting the blog on Amy Geneux Keck brought some riveting -- and surprising -- responses.
Oh, gosh, we often don't know what our friends have faced in their lives.
We revisited the blog piece on Amy -- the tragic, heartbreaking story that we wrote in 2015 because (1) it was the 10-year anniversary, almost to the day and (2) many of our readership -- including new friends at Trinity Terrace, our seniors residency -- had never seen it.
The intent of our blog -- from the start in 2012 -- certainly has not been to focus on negativity or painful episodes. But we do try to deal in reality. Never been a fiction or whimsical writer.
It is, however, often not a fun venture. For example, the stories of our family's tragedies in the World War II years needed to be done, never to be forgotten.
So it was with the story of Amy and the connection to my parents and our then-young family. It was tough writing, and reading.
Here is the first of the responses from friends that, frankly, shook us. So similar to Amy's ordeal ...
"My first wife died of an aneurysm 10 days before her due date. In the effort to save her, our daughter was deprived of oxygen so she did not survive the ordeal. It happens more than people realize."
(Pause for reflection here ...)
Second response: "Ah, yes, why do bad things happen to good people? It comes to us all, sooner or later. Our biggest tragedy was the suicide of our daughter at age 18 in 1990.
"Evidently she inherited the genes for extremely bad depression that current treatment were ineffective for. [We] were extremely fortunate in that we recognized that it was no one's fault and probably inevitable.
"So instead of saying WHY for the next umteen years, we were blessed to realize that we just needed to accept the fact that there was no answer and we just needed to keep moving forward.
"We were also blessed to be surrounded by family and friends that loved her and loved us. She was brilliant, caring and beautiful and loved God. Unfortunately when the psychosis was present, she was unable to remember all the love the world had for her.
"We are glad that we have the Resurrection to look forward to when we shall all be reunited, with no more tears."
(Deep breath before we go on ...)
Third response: A female friend told us that many years ago she lost her oldest daughter at age 35 -- mother of a 20-month old. Breast cancer took her.
"Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen," my friend said.
And we always think of our great Woodlawn High star athlete Trey Prather, who at age 20 died in action in Vietnam. Two years later, his mother -- deep in grief, unable to cope -- was gone, too.
It was a tragedy so many of us from Woodlawn (and later LSU, where Trey played some -- but not enough -- quarterback) never forgot.
We do go on, just as Amy's family and the others we've heard from here have. But it's never the same.
---
Today it was Neil deGrasse Tyson's presence in a segment on CBS Sunday Morning because Neil -- famed astrophysicist and TV personality -- was one of Bea's favorites. (So were Dr. Michio Kaku, physicist/author/TV star, and the late Dr. Jane Goodall.)
Bea introduced them all to me. None had any connection to sports. But I paid attention.
One of the most gratifying tributes to Bea has been two instances of friends donating to "Trees for Israel," in which a tree will be planted in that land in her honor. (We've been told a third tree also has been donated.)
Honestly, we'd never heard of that organization. My bad. But these are such nice gestures, among the many we've received.
Bea would have liked them.
So hopefully that's a positive way to end this blog piece, which started on a sad note. We much prefer the good news.
Oh, gosh, we often don't know what our friends have faced in their lives.
We revisited the blog piece on Amy -- the tragic, heartbreaking story that we wrote in 2015 because (1) it was the 10-year anniversary, almost to the day and (2) many of our readership -- including new friends at Trinity Terrace, our seniors residency -- had never seen it.
The intent of our blog -- from the start in 2012 -- certainly has not been to focus on negativity or painful episodes. But we do try to deal in reality. Never been a fiction or whimsical writer.
It is, however, often not a fun venture. For example, the stories of our family's tragedies in the World War II years needed to be done, never to be forgotten.
So it was with the story of Amy and the connection to my parents and our then-young family. It was tough writing, and reading.
Here is the first of the responses from friends that, frankly, shook us. So similar to Amy's ordeal ...
"My first wife died of an aneurysm 10 days before her due date. In the effort to save her, our daughter was deprived of oxygen so she did not survive the ordeal. It happens more than people realize."
(Pause for reflection here ...)
Second response: "Ah, yes, why do bad things happen to good people? It comes to us all, sooner or later. Our biggest tragedy was the suicide of our daughter at age 18 in 1990.
"Evidently she inherited the genes for extremely bad depression that current treatment were ineffective for. [We] were extremely fortunate in that we recognized that it was no one's fault and probably inevitable.
"So instead of saying WHY for the next umteen years, we were blessed to realize that we just needed to accept the fact that there was no answer and we just needed to keep moving forward.
"We were also blessed to be surrounded by family and friends that loved her and loved us. She was brilliant, caring and beautiful and loved God. Unfortunately when the psychosis was present, she was unable to remember all the love the world had for her.
"We are glad that we have the Resurrection to look forward to when we shall all be reunited, with no more tears."
(Deep breath before we go on ...)
Third response: A female friend told us that many years ago she lost her oldest daughter at age 35 -- mother of a 20-month old. Breast cancer took her.
"Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen," my friend said.
And we always think of our great Woodlawn High star athlete Trey Prather, who at age 20 died in action in Vietnam. Two years later, his mother -- deep in grief, unable to cope -- was gone, too.
It was a tragedy so many of us from Woodlawn (and later LSU, where Trey played some -- but not enough -- quarterback) never forgot.
We do go on, just as Amy's family and the others we've heard from here have. But it's never the same.
---
We are going on, too, a month after Beatrice left us. The support, the caring so many have shown our family has been extremely comforting. We know she was loved, and our family also is.
There are moments now that bring tears -- a Willie Nelson video on YouTube singing All The Things You Are ... because Bea loved Willie.Today it was Neil deGrasse Tyson's presence in a segment on CBS Sunday Morning because Neil -- famed astrophysicist and TV personality -- was one of Bea's favorites. (So were Dr. Michio Kaku, physicist/author/TV star, and the late Dr. Jane Goodall.)
Bea introduced them all to me. None had any connection to sports. But I paid attention.
One of the most gratifying tributes to Bea has been two instances of friends donating to "Trees for Israel," in which a tree will be planted in that land in her honor. (We've been told a third tree also has been donated.)
Honestly, we'd never heard of that organization. My bad. But these are such nice gestures, among the many we've received.
Bea would have liked them.
So hopefully that's a positive way to end this blog piece, which started on a sad note. We much prefer the good news.
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