|
a.
|
Note: William was always called Billy. He died while vacationing at the lake with neighbors. He was 9 years old. The Griffin family had a son
Frank, a mutual friend of both Billy and me. However my pleadings to
go along fell on deaf ears. It was the Memorial Day weekend, the
opening of the summer season in Minnesota. The Griffins owned a cabin
on Long Lake, east of Aitkin. The water was not deep, his play
unsupervised. We rarely saw the Griffins after Billy's death, the
first tragedy in my life and that of my parents. The funeral service
took place at St. Lawrence Catholic Church attended by the entire
school body. Earlier in the month Billy had made his First Holy
Communion. For years, a hand-painted picture of Billy hung in our
home, the painting taken from a photograph of his First Holy
Communion.
|
