· In 1992 current Vice-Presidential nominee Joe Biden lost his wife and his baby daughter in a car accident.
· In 1995 Carroll O’ Connor’s son Hugh committed suicide by gun shot. Hugh called his father moments earlier to warn O’ Connor that he could not handle his drug problem any longer.
· In 1997 Bill Cosby’s son Ennis was murdered while changing a tire. A robber pulled up alongside of Ennis, demanded money, and then shot him when the money wasn’t produced quickly enough.
· Last month Tampa Bay Buccaneers place-kicker Matt Bryant and his wife entered their three-month-old son’s bedroom only to discover that he had died in his sleep.
Suffering is not limited to us peasants. Pain does not distinguish between bank accounts, nor does it care about entourage sizes or red-carpet invites. Pain is an equal opportunity provider. We refuse to believe this because envy is among the most tempting of human emotions. It is not a coincidence that envy is one of the seven deadly sins, nor is it an accident that two of the 10 commandments address coveting.
During difficult periods in our life (economic hardship, illness, etc . . .) it is only natural to respond reflexively with anxiety, hopelessness, and resentment. But maybe next time after our initial emotional release we will remember that “there is always someone out there worse off than you”.
And they may even be a celebrity.
Donald Tremblay
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