The boy and the cardinal

I didn't know it would feel like such a tremendous loss that Olivier never got to meet my cousin. I didn't know having him baptize, or at least bless him, would seem so essential. I discovered it, when the baby arrived. I'm not even sure it was about the religion itself. Maybe because my cousin had such a calming, reassuring presence. Maybe because, aside from clear diverging opinions (on abortion, for instance), his version of faith made sense to me, felt real and just. Or maybe because he was the one welcoming our babies, marrying the young and sending the old to their graves. He would lay his hand on a baby, on a coffin, or on your shoulders, and you'd feel his warmth, his tenderness. He'd laugh, and ask how you were, and what you were up to. So I'll miss him. And I'll miss for my son the fact that he wasn't lucky enough to meet him, this wonderful, immense man (he was tall!)