Missing Alice - reaction

This story, Missing Alice, really affected me. It is about a man who revisits his past, specifically all of the places that make him think about his sister Alice, who died when both he and her were young kids. He goes back to the place where she died (a street corner where a car hit her), her grave, his home as a kid - everywhere.

He just really lets it all hang out emotionally in this story. It's a thread I'm seeing with any of these good feature pieces, whether it's about another person, a story, or a piece of someone's history (like this one). You must be emotionally in-tune and, at least it seems, vulnerable.

The reason this story hit me so hard is that back when I had cancer, I was terminal. My family really went through some pretty serious grief - even while I was still alive. I saw many of the emotions that this author went through in the people I loved. They tried to be all happy around me, but I would hear my mother cry in her room, because my room was right next door. It's a totally different viewpoint though, because he was on the side of the person who did not die. I'm quite certain if I gave this story to anyone in my family, they would probably have a tough time with it.

It's good to be alive :-)