Reply #53

One was Eric Clapton. My daughter's name is Leila-after Lydia Liliʻu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaʻeha, was the last monarch and only queen regnant of the Kingdom of Hawaii. When she was young, she love listening to Clapton's Layla-the acoustic version. One day, we heard 'Tear in Heaven'. She immediately knew it was Clapton and ask me about the song. I told her the story behind it-no graphic details-about his young son's death. My tender hearted little kindergartner burst out crying and was totally inconsolable. I had to pull the car off the road, take her out of her car seat and comfort her. It was such an agonizing wail of grief it took me by surprise.

The second time this happen was when the news that Shel Silverstein died. She was in elementary school. Earlier that year at Christmas, I had bought her a complete set of as many of his books as I could find. I started her out with 'The Light In The Attic'. She would always laugh because I got teary eyed when I read 'The Giving Tree' to her. We were listening to NPR when they made the announcement. I was misty eyed but she was beside herself with grief. We were a bit late to school that morning. All of the teacher were upset when they heard the news. He was a generation of kids version of Dr. Seuss. When we got home, we had a nice long talk and read several of his books cover to cover in tribute before bedtime.