Jean-Michel ConnardI’m watching Phil Rosenthal’s tribute to his parents and it is of course funny and lovely, but man it hurts too. Not to scare those of you who haven’t lost a parent, but no matter how bad you think it will be? It’s worse. It changes you forever. I don’t think I’ll ever be the person I was before I lost my dad.
That doesn’t mean who I am now is bad, but there’s a perspective on the world you just don’t have before suffering a loss like that. The world feels a little less magical, a little emptier. I think having kids probably renews your sense of wonder, but that’s not in the cards for me.
You know how everyone ends these kinds of posts with an exhortation to call your parents? They’re right. Call your parents.