The Give and Take of Death

It's good to read that fathers' deaths make a difference in the lives of their children. It is a mite disheartening sometimes to read how that happens.

For example, Kentuckian Denton Cooper managed in death to saddle his daughters with a step-mom they didn't know much about while he was living. Now they say she married him while he was in a coma on the edge of his demise. A lawsuit has been filed, but as of now, the girls have almost half a year to get their thoughts together about purchasing next year's Mother's Day presents.

Unfortunately, his father's death didn't give Yorkie Sean Watson, 5, anything. It even took away a school treat. It seems The Ryecroft Primary School has a disco extravaganza for kids with perfect attendance, but Watson's absence due to the family's grieving for his father disqualified him from strutting his inner Travolta.

Such is the give and take of a father's death. It seems usually to change his childens' world, but rarely for the better.