Book In Mouth

Several years ago (over 30!) I worked in the public library of my hometown. The town was small and everyone knew when anything happened. Tragically, a local boy (17 years old) had been diagnosed with bone cancer. His prognosis was poor and he was in severe pain quite often and confined to a wheelchair. On the day of his older brother’s high school graduation, he was left at home alone, where he took his life. The family chose not to have funeral and struggled with how to “announce” the death and memorialize their son. The mother came to the public library wanting the research librarian to find a specific quote for a card the family would send out. The quote was somewhat obscure, from a book of poetry. The whole library staff was eager to help, but the efforts came up empty. The research librarian promised to keep looking and get back to the mother as soon as possible. The mother was disappointed but didn’t want the librarian to put herself out finding the passage. To which the librarian responded, “ Don’t worry, I won’t kill myself.” Ahhhh! As soon as the words passed her lips, she realized her unfortunate choice of words.
Ann
Neenah, Wisconsin