David Sedaris and the Loss of a Sibling

I learned watching a segment of a Swedish (I think) documentary show that one of my favorite humorists, David Sedaris, had lost his youngest sister to suicide this past summer. I've listed to Sedaris on audiobooks in my car for years and have always enjoyed his humorous stories about his family, including his sister actress Amy Sedaris. It is strange how familiar you can become with a family that isn't your own in this way. He had written stories about his sister Tiffany before. She was the youngest daughter, the fifth of the six Sedaris children, and had a rocky teenage period where she ran away from home and was sent to an institution for troubled kids. From his description of her, she was the least social with her family. In fact, David had not spoken to her for eight years when she ended her life. I thought that sounded bad, but then I realized that I'd not spoken to my brother Ronnie for ten years when I had learned he died.

The story below is titled "Now We Are Five," which is familiar to me in a sense as I have titled journal entries in a similar fashion after the passing of my older brothers in the last three years. It is an odd feeling when telling someone how many siblings I have as I always feel the need to qualify, saying "I have three brothers and one sister, but two of my brothers have died." Such a statement always invites questions, but it feels even stranger and almost mean to not acknowledge them in saying "I have one brother and one sister."

I was wondering how long it would be until he would write about losing his sister. The story was posted in the New Yorker online at the link below.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/28/131028fa_fact_sedaris

As always, it has a bit of humor in it. It's a good read, I think, and I do feel sad for his loss.