Melancholy Paradise: Children and the language of death

My father lived the last 24 years of his life stone-cold sober. But in his drinking days, with a couple under his belt, he sometimes talked about the night when a revolver tucked under the front seat of his car saved him from being robbed.Dad had a weekend side hustle, as we’d call it now, making cotton candy in public parks and at church festivals. In New York State...