Update 5/24 : I spoke with the mom who is referenced in this story about what happened. She is a friend, and a lovely person, and I don’t fault her for this. Kids say what they say–my own included! My purpose in telling this story wasn’t to demonize anyone, but just to share another ALS experience.
—————
The little girl was asking me a question, but I couldn’t hear her over the noise of the playground. I leaned around Scarlett’s head and asked the girl–a 6-year-old who lives in our neighborhood–to repeat herself, but it took a few tries before her question was audible. When I could finally understand what she was saying–and she was speaking pretty loudly by that point–what I heard was “Does Scarlett know that you’re going to die soon?”
There are a lot of possible answers to that question, but the first thing that came out of my mouth was “Oh honey, I’m not going to die soon.”
She persisted. “My mom says that you’re going to die soon.”
“Well,” I said firmly. “I’m not.” And then I must have said something else, but I absolutely don’t know what it was, and suddenly we were wheeling off to another section of the park. Read More>