"My father: sturdy, disliking fuss, dutiful, determined, and more than a bit obsessive. He believed that money was the root of all evil, and that stealing a penny was no more pardonable than stealing a million dollars. Even the Catholic Church’s teachings were more lenient, dividing sins, as they did, into venial and mortal!"

Grieving has spawned hundreds of religious rituals and thousands of self-help books. I think there should also be a what-to-watch list to cut into the mourning fog. For someone my age, there is nothing so helpful as the Minister of Silly Walks, a dead parrot, and the Spanish Inquisition.