Finding strength

We had a wonderful Sabbath. Friends joined us for lunch and we kept a lively and enjoyable conversation going until just a few minutes before Sabbath ended. We have children and grandchildren who are all close in age and we see the world similarly in many ways, so it is always enjoyable to spend time together.

When Sabbath ended I went to tackle the dishes while Barry went to check his email as he always does just after Sabbath. He usually comes back upstairs fairly quickly, but he did not, and I figured it was some minor issue in a grant proposal or paper under review for publication. When he finally came back upstairs he shared what had kept him downstairs for so long. In his email he saw a few messages from Mount Sinai colleagues about Dr. Richard Stock, a radiation oncologist who joined the Mount Sinai faculty about twenty years ago, two years after Barry did. Although he left a couple of years ago to join a private practice, he has continued as an active collaborator in some of Barry’s research work. Friday evening, Dr. Stock and his 9-year-old son Cooper were crossing the street near their home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan when they were struck by a taxicab. Cooper sustained major injuries and died shortly thereafter. We had never met Cooper but looking at a picture in the paper he looked a lot like his father.

On this morning’s news we heard of yet another accident involving a taxi in which a young mother of twins was killed while walking. New York is a very big city, and I suspect that there are such reports on the news pretty much every day. But most of us barely hear them and do not give them much thought. I suspect I will hear them quite differently for a very long time to come.

We had thought about going out last evening. We knew our friend Leslie Pintchik, a jazz pianist, was performing in nearby New Rochelle and had thought that if we weren’t too tired we might go see and hear her (that is a nod to Leslie, who always thanks her audience for bringing their ears to her shows). After this news we just did not feel like leaving the house.

We are at an age when many of us have lost our parents (both Barry and I have both lost our fathers) and have some friends who have suffered the loss of a spouse. As painful as these experiences can be, I cannot imagine anything more painful than the death of a child. I have unfortunately known a few people whose children have died of illnesses. I think the suddenness of this nearly instantaneous death in such a young child gives it an additional dimension. I just hope that Cooper’s parents and his sister will find the strength to continue their own lives.

Love,

Rebecca