The Emptied Place
I couldn’t get through Ghazala Khan’s gorgeous op-ed without crying. Then I couldn’t talk about it with Josh without crying. And then I went on Facebook and saw other people mentioning it, so I cried again.
There is a perfect paragraph in the center of the piece, one that puts into words that concept that we are never the same again after a loss:
Humayun is my middle son, and the others are doing so well, but every day I feel the pain of his loss. It has been 12 years, but you know hearts of pain can never heal as long as we live. Just talking about it is hard for me all the time. Every day, whenever I pray, I have to pray for him, and I cry. The place that emptied will always be empty.
The place that emptied will always be empty. It doesn’t get filled by something or someone else. It is just an empty space inside you for eternity.
Sitting for a moment with that very sad, but perfectly said, thought.
12 comments
Beautiful and heartbreaking – thanks for sharing.
I haven’t read her words yet, but this family – they blow me away with their grace and eloquence. I would hope to be as graceful as they in the face of such hate from a presidential candidate, but if it was my child’s life being attacked, I don’t know that I could be. Simply amazing.
While I’m sorry that it came to the point that she had to put her pain and grief on display, I’m also awed that she was able to put it so eloquently.
I’ve read it & think the Khan’s are an amazing family. My heart goes out to her.
I’ve read it & think the Khan’s are an amazing family. My heart goes out to both of them.
What an articulate woman. She put into words something that’s so hard to express.
I read it and was also very moved.
It is a perfect description. And I applaud her strength in coming forward, through that pain, to set her critics straight. She shouldn’t have had to, but she did, gracefully.
I was furious when I heard Trump demean this family. Spitting from being so angry at his blasphemy. But this beautiful woman said it best: he doesn’t know sacrifice. Trump truly doesn’t. He doesn’t understand love at all. Frankly, I don’t think he cares about anyone but himself.
Ghazala Khan is a mother grieving the loss of her selfless son. A son who cared about others and who was taken too soon. My heart is with her as she grieves this loss. And I thank her for sharing her story with the world, as it breaks so many myths surrounding Muslims.
And now, done with Donald Trump. May this election make him face the reality of who he is: a hollow narcissist who doesn’t know how to love.
I particularly loved her comment, “Because without saying a thing, all the world, all America, felt my pain.” That is so true. And if you didn’t, if you couldn’t feel her pain, in the way that Trump didn’t, then what kind of a person are you/is he?
So elegant, so simple, but so powerful. I’m so grateful that she was willing to put pen to paper for this, but heartsick that it needed to be said.
Yes, the empty place. Ghazala Khan puts it perfectly.