One more photo from South Korea, but it's sad
I've written a lot about SIL (TODS's sister) here over the years, but I never thought I'd be writing something so sad. Please feel free to skip if you need to protect yourself from sadness right now; I totally understand.
Our niece Emily, SIL's daughter, has led a troubled life, involving substance abuse on and off since her teens, including the hard stuff. We got a call from SIL shortly before we left on the Study Abroad trip, telling us that Emily had died at the age of 34 from an overdose of crack. We had mixed feelings. We felt sad for our niece, but at least her troubles are over and she is finally at rest. But we felt heartsick for SIL. No one should have to bury a child.
Now, around that same time, our t-shirts from an academic conference on Star Wars that we had attended earlier in the month finally arrived, and TODS suggested we pack them to take with us. (They squish them so flat in those plastic bags, they hardly took up any room in the suitcase!) I learned a few days later that Emily's visitation would be on May 30, and family members would all be wearing Star Wars shirts in her honor; it was a passion she shared with SIL and some of their happiest moments together were at Star Wars conventions. Since we had luckily packed those shirts on the spur of the moment, we had our picture taken on May 30th wearing them and sent the picture to SIL, explaining that we wanted to show our support for Emily; she was very touched.
Our niece Emily, SIL's daughter, has led a troubled life, involving substance abuse on and off since her teens, including the hard stuff. We got a call from SIL shortly before we left on the Study Abroad trip, telling us that Emily had died at the age of 34 from an overdose of crack. We had mixed feelings. We felt sad for our niece, but at least her troubles are over and she is finally at rest. But we felt heartsick for SIL. No one should have to bury a child.
Now, around that same time, our t-shirts from an academic conference on Star Wars that we had attended earlier in the month finally arrived, and TODS suggested we pack them to take with us. (They squish them so flat in those plastic bags, they hardly took up any room in the suitcase!) I learned a few days later that Emily's visitation would be on May 30, and family members would all be wearing Star Wars shirts in her honor; it was a passion she shared with SIL and some of their happiest moments together were at Star Wars conventions. Since we had luckily packed those shirts on the spur of the moment, we had our picture taken on May 30th wearing them and sent the picture to SIL, explaining that we wanted to show our support for Emily; she was very touched.