Yesterday they planted Tyler. I didn't go. I did go to the viewing on Friday though...perhaps one of the saddest things I've ever seen. Tyler was 10 years old. He was the 3rd son of his mother and the first and only child of his Dad. Dad and Tyler were inseparable. From the day he was born you'd never see them apart. They loved each other SO deeply.
Tyler would race home every day after school to ride his quad. On this day he and his little friend tried a new trail. The quad flipped and unable to remove himself from under it, he sufficated to death.
How fragile is life? How weak and innocent did this little boy look laid out in his casket? My God, how does a mother absorb such pain? How does his daddy get out of bed, how does he stand? Who could be that strong?
When Tyler was born, my girlfriend gave him a little rag lookin' doll. Dad said, "A doll? For my boy??" She said, "It doesn't matter, every baby needs a "baby" to love." Tyler, in all his 10 years never slept a night without that baby. It was tattered, ripped, sewn and repaired. When he got back from camp it was found rolled up in his sleeping bag. Other boys teased and it was a family joke, but Tyler didn't care. He was buried holding that little doll in those tiny hands. As it turns out, he'll never spend a night without a little baby to love...God damn it...I wish the same were true for his mother.
...I think I'll call my Mom.
tearsforTyler@juddsfarm
