Though Tommy's death came days before the violent riots at the Capitol, Raskin says the two things are "intertwined in my mind." "And especially those who already had a mentor or emotional health struggle." but it was an enormously isolating and demoralizing period for young people across the country," the Maryland congressman says. "And I want to be clear that I'm not blaming COVID-19. That struggle only intensified with age, and with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. And that's a real darkness, and it really showed up towards the end of college." Looking back, Raskin says Tommy "had a very highly refined, moral sensitivity at a young age that's something that we appreciated and we thought proud of, but then it began to merge in with some depressive tendencies. ![]() a kind of relentless torture in the brain for him, and despite very fine doctors and a loving family and friendship network of hundreds who adored him beyond words and whom he adored too, the pain became overwhelming and unyielding and unbearable at last for our dear boy, this young man of surpassing promise to our broken world." But that's an improvement because it was very hard to talk about him before."Īs the Raskin family wrote in its tribute of Tommy shortly after his death, "He began to be tortured later in his 20s by a blindingly painful and merciless 'disease called depression,'. "We miss Tommy sharply - all of the time - and we talk about him all of the time. Jamie Raskin Gets Standing Ovation in Congress After Son's Death amid Chaos at CapitolĪs Raskin explains, the loss is still intense - but the ebbs and flows of the grieving process have allowed the family to be more open about Tommy's death. I could spend the rest of my life trying to figure out what had happened in those 50 days or I could try to record it as quickly as possible and have a conversation with my family, my friends and my constituents in the country about it. "I was sleepless for most of the year, so I was up all night anyway," he says, adding: "I realized it was something I had to do. The book gave him a chance to reflect on his son's life - and kept him busy during long nights. Still, the writing process was helpful for Raskin, who found himself in the throes of grief in the aftermath of Tommy's death. Any glimpses of understanding I got, I was willing to share."ĪNDREW HARNIK/POOL/AFP via Getty Jamie Raskin "Everybody's just on their journey in dealing with death just like everybody's on the journey and dealing with life. "My book is not a how-to book on grieving because I don't know that that exists," Raskin says. Capitol, and the impeachment effort - led by Raskin - to hold Trump accountable. ![]() 4, details those harrowing first 50 days of 2021, which would permanently alter Raskin's life, beginning with his son's death, and including that harrowing day at the U.S. The devastation hasn't waned, of course, though the 59-year-old Democrat was able to begin what he calls an "extremely cathartic and therapeutic" journey of writing and talking about his son in the months after his death. ![]() The congressman announced the death of Tommy, a second-year student at Harvard Law School, in January, saying in a statement at the time that he and his wife Sarah were "devastated and demolished to be without him." In a lengthy and emotional tribute, his family said Tommy died by suicide.
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