For the last three nights, Rich's room was busy with visitors -- dozens -- speaking Serbo-Croation and Albanian, attending to a family patriarch with last-stage brain cancer. First day, this was an annoyance; ear plugs helped cut down the noise coming Rich's way.
"We have a big family," a daughter apologized (the patriarch has ten children, plus other relatives I could not identify).
Second day, annoyance slowly gave way to amazement. At the outpouring of family love, at the cheek-to-cheek kisses for all, at the care of wife and a son who stayed overnight.
Today, saying good-bye, we wished the wife all the best in a situation that, she knew, would not get better.
"What a wonderful family you have," I said.
Her English was a bit limited, but she understood.
"Your family?" she asked.
"We have none."
"You? Husband? None?" she asked, comprehending the words but not the possibility.
And I was drawn to her with a kiss on one cheek, then another.
People with large families, I've noticed, often easily assume others into their midst. What's one more?
She asked for my phone number. We kissed again.
All invasions kill. But sometimes the right things are destroyed.
Candace
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