The End

The man passed away.

He left a 6 year old son (who sadly was confident his dad was going to get well again), 12 and 14 year old daughters, and a 21 year old son. His wife is 42 years old. This is just so sad. All I can offer right now are some virtual flowers, morning glories and daisies from my own garden.

My parents are very shaken, but OK. My mom is actually worried right now with the man's 14 year old daughter who took FIVE of the really strong anti-depressant/sleeping-pills that a doctor had prescribed for her mother to take twice a day and that my parents had bought. My dad had been worried about the pills on account of the young children, but they ended up giving the box to the wife. Thankfully they went to visit the family this afternoon while the mother was out and the older daughter was acting strange and collapsed. The neighbor woman explained that she had taken the box from the girl's hand, or she might have taken the whole box and most probably killed herself! My mom feels just so terrible that they left those pills there. I just got off the phone with my parents and they were going to call to know if the daughter is OK. The children were on their way to the funeral home (things are done quickly in Brazil, people are buried within 24 hours of their death) when this happened, so my mom instructed their uncle (the man's brother, whose insurance paid for the funeral and other expenses) to stop at the emergency room first so the daughter could be seen by a doctor. I hope she's fine. I'll update as soon as I hear more.

My parents were out when the news about the man's death reached their home and it was their long time friend and neighbor -- my brother's father-in-law -- who took care of things until they came back. They had gone to have their car photographed and analyzed by the police department which is going to investigate the accident. My dad could have his driver's license confiscated for two years, and may have to pay a fine or indemnification to the family, but he won't know for a long time what will happen since any legal processes take a long time in Brazil. My only worry is that they were planning to come visit us in the Spring and I wonder if he can leave the country if there's a police investigation going on.

The unthinkable sometimes happens.
This is not comforting at all, but is all I can say right now.

(these delicate "daisy-like" flowers are from Longwood Gardens)