Jacob Swenson-Lengyel

Memorial

Memorial

When I stood to speak at Jules memorial, I was hollow as a reed. Sadness lapping only at my edges, like a murky pond; even so, enough to make my voice shake. Willa, fellow reed, put her hand on my back to offer support. So too I offered my hand to her when she gave...
Mourning Rituals

Mourning Rituals

Three weeks after Jules died, the week Willa’s eyesight began to return, we decided to make a schedule. The proceeding few weeks had a structure of their own, taken up as they were with nursing shift changes, ER visits, medication regimens, and, I suspect,...
Death Is Not An Event

Death Is Not An Event

We sometimes imagine our lives as though we are conductors of a locomotive, traveling through the countryside of our life as the crossties pass uniformly below. At intervals, we may flip the switch at a crossroads, moving ourselves onto new tracks headed towards a...