StoryCorps at SHC: Judy Kaufman & Laurie Jacob

Laurie Jacob: The thing that is very, very commonly thought of with Dary is that she knew how to be a friend. She was a very good, loyal friend to people. She didn't have a lot of friends, but she had deep friendships. Daryhad a depth of feeling. So when she was joyful, she sparkled. She glowed. She was such a joy. It emanated. When she was angry, she was really angry and she would pick up the Monopoly game and throw it in the air because she was mad because her brothers were winning. She just had a depth of emotion. 

My daughter Daryth died when she was 18. She was almost 19, on February 12th, almost 16 years ago. This February will be 16 years. Yeah. Her full name was Daryth. We called her Dary. When we first lost Dary and for probably several years after that, I did not think I was going to survive. The biggest help to me and what I sought and I had no trouble reaching out to were other mothers who had lost children. I wanted to know how they could still be here. What did they do to survive? I think it is not understood that it is a sorrow that remains forever. It's just a profound, profound loss. My world has slowed down. There is a realm that I have touched on that I would never have known. Every little thing I see, especially in nature, means there's so much beauty in it that we fail to notice sometimes. I have a faith that's deep, that has colored all of my grief, my faith. And it is that faith that I think has helped me survive. 

Produced by Stanford Health Care with interviews recorded in collaboration with StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity's stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world www.storycorps.org

Sound Editor: Amy Hu

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