After watching President Obama address the Democratic National Convention tonight, we received the sad news that my mother-in-law’s cousin’s son had suddenly died in a car accident in Nashville. It’s hard to imagine the shock and anguish that his family must be going through right now.

When my brother died, I used to wonder what could make me feel worse about his death, if there were any other cause that would have made me feel more useless. The only thing that came to mind was if he were murdered by someone or killed in some reckless accident that someone else caused. But it’s hard to imagine how I would have reacted if he died in this way. Grief is grief at the end of the day, but some things have the capacity to haunt you for far longer, if not forever.