Commentary

Randi Belisomo: Being Thankful Amid Personal Grief


Met Randi at the Poynter Institute in early August.

She’s incredible.

Reporting for WGN, she sometimes offers a glance into her soul.

And does so today in the Chicago Tribune:

So many people take Thanksgiving Day for granted, as a holiday of gratitude for family, friends and blessings. That is why what is intended as a joyful celebration has been difficult for me the past two years. Then again, so have all holidays. Birthdays and anniversaries included. I know I’m not alone when I say such occasions only remind me of love lost and those no longer with us, but it certainly feels that way.

I lost my husband Carlos last year, after about 2 1/2 years of marriage and a terrible 12 months of treatment for his metastatic colon cancer. My story is unusual only in that we were far too young. He was 36. I had just turned 28 as I scoured my closet for a suit to wear to his funeral, a hat to hide my eyes. I didn’t recognize the young woman in my bathroom mirror.

But there are thousands of Chicagoans who have done just the same thing as a result of the same culprit. The American Cancer Society estimates that the families of more than a half million Americans will be dealt such grief this year alone. They are husbands and wives, parents and children who are experiencing the same sadness, the same pain, the same longing when they glance at holiday tables where one more person should sit.

Please read the entire piece.


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