Bad Things.

Something horrible happened to the son of a friend. Something thats caused me to rethink my own kid's lives and mental states, as well as my own history and memory of difficult times.  In interest of privacy there will be no discussion of the incident, except to say it happened to a family that has always seemed very normal and friendly in the most interesting ways. I know several brothers, all of whom are at times brilliant and funny and weird. They themselves had a strange upbringing and I have always been amazed at how resilient they have been and how they took the very strangeness of their family and turned it into the source of their strength. That something like this should happen to one of their offspring is a gut punch. I wish the poor kid well, and a speedy recovery. I think about how I needle and push my sons to excel (or even just to actively participate) and the grim silence that follows.
 Nothing could be worse than the feeling that your kid has done something to themselves that took them from you.

Nothing.