And So it Goes

   Some times I will read a short article in the paper and the underlying tragedy and drama behind the simple facts  conveyed there will peek out from behind the dry prose, reach out and clutch at my heart. The following story is such a case. It tells of a young woman who was born in my home town. I may well have seen her in the Sacramento Ballet as a child. She overcame unbelievable obstacles and had succeeded as an actress, only to die too young through a chance mis-step. The excerpts are from The San Francisco Chronicle:

     "Ms. Serafin's health had suffered another setback. With her kidneys failing, she had a double organ transplant at the University of Minnesota, receiving a kidney from her brother, Ryan Serafin of Portland, Ore., and a pancreas from another donor.

The transplant rejuvenated her, her father said. Five weeks after the operation, she and Brooks opened in the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," receiving rave reviews."

     After all this and more, ten days ago she went out on the fire escape for some air, slipped and fell three stories, yesterday she died of her injuries. 

     I feel cheated today. I would have liked to have seen her perform as an adult. Yet the small and the mean and the petty thrive. Indeed, they flourish.

    And so it goes.

    Take a moment and read her story.

   http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/27/BAFT1IH53F.DTL&tsp=1

    Be seeing you.