That's a hard one, Chris. Very sorry you had to go through that. Hard to
imagine a moment more difficult than that.
I've never had to pass on bad news of that nature, and am not sure I could have
had an occasion offered itself. Closest ting for me was a Saturday morning
while I was a reporter. Word came from the Sheriff's Department that a local
minister had been killed in a light plane crash in Pennsylvania, I think. As
the _only_ reporter on duty, I had to put together some kind of story for that
day's paper. (This was early in the morning, and it was an afternoon paper.) I
called my former high-school French teacher, who was a member of the deceased's
congregation, in hopes of getting enough background for a decent story.
To make a long story, short, M. Lappin did not get me the information I needed.
Instead, he got me an invitation from the family to come to the home and talk
with them. That was just about the roughest morning of my lift (to that point).
Not only family present, but also more family and all manner of congregants
arriving moment by moment. In and among all of this sat your Bob, dutifully
taking notes while trying to be invisible and unobtrusive and sensitive and all
the other things journalists are _not_ known to be.
After what seemed like two or three months, the morning ended. The story got
written and the paper put to bed. Bob started drinking early in the afternoon
and didn't quit for a while.
Now, I can't even recall his name.
--Bob
On Jun 24, 2013, at 11:31 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
> Thanks, Bob. No, my Boss and his nav died on the second night, their first
> push. I spent a lot of that night helped by my wife, getting to a wife and a
> girlfriend to tell them the news. But worse was to come: a few days later I
> had to upgrade "missing" to "missing, believed killed". But by that time it
> was not only the poor wife as the recipient of the news; much of the chap's
> family had got there and I had a large, sombre audience.
>
> That was possibly my most difficult moment, ever . . .
>
> But it's certain that others have had worse to do, repeatedly.
>
> Chris
> On 24 Jun 2013, at 11:29, Bob Whitmire <bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Good story. I hope all of yours got through it.
--
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