A response to the New York Times Portrait of Grief Series

The profiles of Edelmino Abad, Paul Acquaviva and Donald Adams were the three profiles that stood out to me from the series. The details and imagery presented in the descriptions provided a snap shot of how these men lived.

Beginning with Abad, he was portrayed as a man who adored his wife and children and who also treated his coworkers as a second family. The opening line provides you with an image of Abad—the proud father—attending his children’s dance recitals, and then we hear from one of his daughters about how he supported her dream to become a dance instructor. I felt like I knew this man by the way he was described.

The profile of Paul Acquaviva was moving because beyond stating all of his achievements, it offered a snap shot of a man who married his childhood sweetheart and cried at the birth of his first child. These are the details that give you a sense of the way Acquaviva lived.

Lastly, I was struck by the profile of Donald Adams. The piece had strong imagery of the connection Adam had with his wife and daughter. There was a scene of Adams walking toward his house and spotting “his girls” waiting on the porch for him. But my favorite aspect of the piece was how Adam’s wife, Heda, described their relationship. "I was H. He was D. Just the first letters. That's all we needed."