On the death of my sister

The older of my two adopted sisters, Mary Grace, died nine days ago of a drug overdose in a hotel outside of Houston, TX. There is absolutely no way to convey the depth of this tragedy to anyone who was not close to Mary throughout her life, though a precious few friends and extended family have an inkling of the loss. The untimeliness of Mary's death, even the manner of it, was simultaneously shocking and anticipated. Her life, which was marked by joy in the early years but almost total heartbreak as an adult, made her funeral preparations a challenge to her family. My Dad, brother, and I did our best, between each of our funeral remarks, to balance honor of her with honesty about the hard lessons of her life. Below are my own remarks, with minor edits to the draft I read at Mary's funeral.

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