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Tom buried his daughters and his Vic one day, his brother the next.
Helen’s parents had no more contact with him after the funerals. They neither consoled nor condemned him.
In the months that followed he made a daily trip to the graves of each of his dead family, his parents one day, his brother and wives the next, his daughters the day after that. He spent his days almost entirely in graveyards. At night, he drank. He would drink until he passed out, and when he woke, he would head for whichever graveyard was due to be visited according to his desolate schedule.
He was beyond grief. Daily he thought about killing himself but reasoned that death was a peace he didn’t deserve. If he had believed in heaven and hell, suicide would have been his first and best option—his life was a liv
