Sadness is a wall between two gardens

--Kahlil Gibran

You cannot prevent the birds of sadness from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from making a nest in your hair

--Chinese proverb

I was sad to hear today that my cousin's only child, a twenty-something year-old son, died of a drug overdose. My cousin and her husband had already had a long and hard road with this young man; but he was in rehab and had recently given her a 30-day "drug free" chip, so happy days were here again was the hopeful thought. Evidently, however, this accidental overdose involved a prescription drug that didn't mix with something else. Whatever the circumstances, sadness will spread its wings over everyone who knew them in the coming days and weeks both like the birds in the Chinese proverb and the angels that lift and carry our loved ones to heaven. And for the parents, and all those who have lost children (and what parent hasn't had that secret worry), I have always hoped, if I were in their place, to be able to grieve with the ferocity of a hurricane, fists pounding, tears streaming. Whether this hurricane went on for 3 days or 3 months, eventually the sun would peek out and finally break through the storm. For I am 100% positive that my sons and my cousin's son would wish for the parents they love to pick up the debris, carry them in their hearts and get back to loving and living their own lives as best they could as soon as they could. The days of sadness are over for my cousin's son - as no addict is overjoyed with his or her life as an addict - and I hope that the days of sadness for my cousin are infinitesimally numbered. Let's count them down until she and her husband can reach the day when they can again spread even baby-bird wings with the hope of lifting themselves out of the gloom.