I don't think it's just me, but I tend to believe that life's hardest lesson should not have to learned when you are in 5th grade. Not when you're a young boy of 10 or 11. Not on a Friday afternoon when you are eagerly awaiting the end of the school day and the beginning of a weekend hunting trip with your dad. I don't think a mother and teacher should ever have to tell a young boy that during the day his father passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly. I don't think teachers should have to tell classmates (many of whom have never lost a grandparent) of the young boy about the untimely death of their friend's dad. I don't think a young man of this age should be thinking about wakes and funerals but rather basketball and Nintendo and playing with his pals. I don't think any of this should be happening to this family right now - but it is. That's life. It hurts.
Please keep Kathryn's classmate, Joe S., his mom, Kelly, and big sister, Gina, in your hearts. Their father/husband, John, was a good and decent man and a wonderful father, who left this world too soon.
