“WHEN THERE ARE NO WORDS” – JUST BE THERE Charlie Walton and his wife answered the door to a policeman bearing the worst news parents can hear. Two of their sons had been found dead. A friend, home from college, was found with them. I didn’t know the Waltons, but had worked with the other young man’s mother and taught his younger sister. Stunned doesn’t begin to describe what each of us felt in the emergency faculty meeting called the following cold December morning. Walton later wrote about the experience in When There Are No Words, a book that “describes that terrible moment when you want to say something to console a friend or loved one and no words seem appropriate ” (from the back cover). I recommend it, or something like it, because unfortunately, even “when no words seem appropriate,” we usually feel something needs to be said. Often, those we comfort remember it, but not always in a good way. So, we are wise to r...
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