Bob CollinsYour mid-day break from the news — you know, that kind of news — should include the story of Scott Widak, told to public radio station WBUR in Boston today by his nephew.
Scott had Down Syndrome and nearly two years ago at this time, he was in decline, his nephew, Sean O’Connor recalls:
In the winter of 2012, our entire family knew his condition was really declining. And then he ended up in the hospital, he was in and out of the hospital constantly, and none of us wanted to leave him at any moment by himself.
So it was my night to stay at the hospital all night and I didn’t get much sleep, he was up all night in pain, and I got back home and it was just one of the most stressful, depressing days of my entire life and I turned to Reddit and I was like, “Hey Reddit. My 47-year-old uncle, Scott Widak, has Down syndrome and is terminally ill with liver disease. He is currently bedridden and living out his last days at home with my 85-year-old grandmother. One of his favorite things to do is open mail…anyone feel like sending him a letter or a card?”
There was no mail. And then on the second day, there were about 10 letters that came in. And then, like the next two days, it all started pouring in and there were crates of mail from the post office. And my aunts would walk it into the house — like, crates of mail.
He died several months later.
Be sure to listen to the audio, so you can enjoy the gorgeous New England accent of his mother.
BTW, here’s the original thread on Reddit.
