Shiva Visit

Today I went to the Korn's to pay a shiva call. I really was at a loss as to what to say. Some people go to a shiva home and ask questions about the departed relative in order to satisfy their curiosity: "Was he sick?" "How long?" "Did you know he was going to die?" "Where did he go to college?" etc. etc. I fail to see how such questions help the mourner, especially when he finds himself answering the same question dozens of times.

So I sat there quietly and did what any grown man should do when he thinks about a relatively young, very special woman who died after a three year bout with cancer leaving behind a husband and six [five unmarried] children, parents and siblings.

I cried.