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When cold night falls, human nature is to lean in close to the fire, and gather close those who they love. But sometimes the dark that falls isn't that of the earth turning away from the sun, but rather of fortune turning her back upon us. These are the times when we need each other most, and yet so often instead we push away those who would help us. I remember when I was young, a child from a neighboring farm was playing out in the fields with his siblings when he slipped and hit his head on a rock. The child survived, but he was never the same after that. He could no longer walk, talk, or even feed himself. Instead, he was like an infant again, requiring complete and constant care from his family. His father blamed his mother for letting him out of the house, and she in turn blamed the father for not noticing him playing near him in the fields. Both of them blamed his brothers and sisters who had been playing with him and allowed him to fall and hit his head. Nobody reached out for guidance. Instead, they sunk in on themselves. The house, which had once been filled can'with laughter and joy, became a constant source of alternating cold silence, and hateful screaming. My family had been frequent visitors, but we stopped visiting shortly after the tragedy. It was just too painful to be there and feel so much anger in the house. The tragic thing is that there was no fault. The mother was not at fault, nor was the father or the siblings. But each person was so anxious to find someone to blame for what had happened, that not only did they each push away what comfort they might have had in each other, they took that comfort from the one person who needed it most. He would sit there sometimes, in a room filled with blame, and tears would silently roll down his cheeks. If only his family had leaned in to each other for warmth in the darkness, and held him close. Mari 'Brat' Tomoko | |