A Chinese fable tells of a woman who came to a religious teacher asking him to heal her dying child. He told her to go to some home for a certain herb but added that the home from which it should come should be one where there had never been a death. She walked for hours, many homes had the herb but she could find none where death had not crossed the threshold. On her l-eturn the wise man said, "Your child was dead even when you came to me but I wanted you to learn how universal was this sorrow you are called to bear." It is beautiful and presents a great truth. Grief is universal. None of us can pass through life unscarred by it. It lessens our own load to share that of others. More than that it brings us nearer to our kind, makes us more understanding, more human.