Errol Milner Clifford was born with a significant heart defect and a cognitive disability that prevented him from walking or talking. As we grieved the child we had anticipated, Errol’s full-bodied smile and irrepressible laugh turned our sorrow into joy, and taught us that many of the best things in life are unexpected. Inspired by Errol’s delightful spirit, friends, family, and neighbors rallied to support our family’s significant emotional, physical, and financial needs, through countless acts of selfless generosity. When Errol’s courageous heart finally failed him on December 23, 2009 we were left numb with grief. In these dark hours we listen hopefully for the echoes of Errol’s brilliant laugh. This blog is the story (starting from present and working back to Errol's birth) of the life and times of the amazing Errol Clifford.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Life Is Round
My favorite line in a Coen Brothers film comes from the scene in Raising Arizona where the escaped convict, Evelle, asks a grizzled old store clerk about some balloons he is thinking about purchasing, “These blow up into funny shapes and all?”
The grocer looks at his customer askance and replies, “Well no…unless round is funny.”
Errol thought round was funny, he thought his brother jumping on the bed was funny, leaves falling from the sky were funny, his three crazy doggies running around the house were always funny, chickens flapping the yard were even more funny, and snow was probably funniest. I remember rolling Errol out onto the porch his last winter, and pointing up at the big white flakes falling from the sky, and as sick as he felt, Errol looked right up at the snow, smiled, looked over at me, and then let out a little chuckle. For Errol, although his life was harder by far than any I have known, life was always round. After all, as Oscar Wilde said, “Life is too important to be taken seriously.”
1 comment:
I often wish I could live as if life was all round.
Teachers come in all shapes and sizes and Errol seems like he was all of them.
I think of you guys often and wish for you, more round shaped days.
~andrea
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