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Write Again…A cautionary tale for us?

Grief   Surely it is one of humankind’s most powerful emotions.

Depending upon the source, the cause of the grief, the effects it manifests on the grievingmay vary. Most of us, at least those who may read this column, probably have experiencedsignificant grief   I say that assuming I don’t really

have many younger readers. Animals grieve. Human beings and animals grieve for oneanother.

To lose a loved one. Let me share with you that which was written by Celeste Ng. I’ll tellyou who she is a bit further after the following:

“When are you ever done with the story of someone you love? You turn the mostprecious of your memories over and over, wearing their edges smooth, warming themagain with your heart.

“You touch the curves and hollows of every detail you have, memorizing them,reciting them once more though you already know them in your bones.

“Whoever thinks, recalling the face of the one they loved who is gone: Yes, I looked atyou enough, we had enough time, any of this was enough.”

Who, indeed?

Now, about Celeste Ng. She is the number one New York Times author of “Everything I  Never Told You” and “Little Fires Everywhere.”  She is the recipient of fellowships fromthe National Endowment of the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation, and her work hasbeen published in over thirty languages.

All of this I’ve quoted came from her book “Our Missing Hearts.” While this book wascentered on the proposition that a supernationlistic country -the United States -wouldremove children from parents who were not sufficiently patriotic and supportive ofrepressive measures compatible with the prevalent “correct thinking.”

That which she expounds upon strongly is all hypothetical, of course.

Such extremes of clamping down upon free thought do exist, even in these times, insome autocratic countries. You could easily name them.

There was a time, though, in the early 1950’s during what became known as theMcCarthy Era, when anything even resembling free thought was very unwelcome by andfor members of Congress and other notables, and among the film community. Careerswere destroyed. The “Red Scare.”

We survived that, and Joe McCarthy was discredited, fell from favor, and

died in disgrace.

Is there a moral in any of this for us today? You tell me.