Lucy Mangan’s piece on Channel 4’s Partygate dramatisation (Digested week, 6 October) had such a resonance with me that I had to stop reading it and leave the room in tears.
Our son-in-law took his life unexpectedly in May 2020, leaving our daughter and two children aged six and eight bewildered. Our large families and their large friendship group were restricted by the limit on numbers then allowed at a funeral.
The power of his popularity was such that on leaving the service we were faced with about 200 people on the edges of the grounds. The power of yearning to offer comfort was tangible. There could be no wake, no stories of the man, son, husband, father, friend who had died so tragically. For the small, grief-stricken boys who will become grief-stricken men, there will be no memory of collective grief and comfort to help support any memories of their dad.
Though our experiences may differ, Lucy encapsulated the overwhelming grief of that time and the undercurrent of shock and fury at the way our lawmakers so glibly and callously disregarded their own rules, by which most of us abided.
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• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
