In the months before Patrick died, CR and I started listening to Charlotte’s Web, read by the author, during the car rides to and from my work/her daycare.

CR was immediately drawn into the storyline of Fern and Wilbur. Her pink, plush, toy pig immediately was renamed for the protagonist. She cheered when Wilbur escaped from his pen and empathized with his loneliness in the barn before Charlotte greets him with her famous, “Salutations.” E.B. White’s matter-of-fact narration and New England accent add depth to the story and humor that I may have missed without his inflection and emphasis. CR and I have now probably listened to the story, start-to-finish, five times.

As the story closes, Charlotte dies. My gratitude to E.B. White is for presenting death in real terms, with real emotion, in language that children, that CR, can understand. With Patrick’s diagnosis, I began questioning all of the social workers and doctors we met on how to talk to CR about death so that she might process losing her father in a healthy way. While I got wonderful tips about how to talk with her, it was while listening to Charlotte’s Web that started our real, ongoing conversation about what death is and how it affects a family. For CR, it was clear how much Wilbur missed his friend, and that even though she was gone, he was still connected to Charlotte through his memory of her and through her children.

I feel confident that CR feels closely connected to her father, even with him absent. Thank you E.B. White for helping us start a conversation that will keep Patrick present in our lives and for helping CR begin a lifelong process of healthy grieving.

Marathon Training Update

My physical therapist has advised that I still not run. As the weeks tick by, I am growing restless and more concerned about my training plan’s interruption. I have another appointment in early June. I’ll keep you posted.