He had to catch his sadness where he could, around the edges of my own.

English translation: he could allow himself to grieve only a little, and a little at a time

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
English term or phrase:He had to catch his sadness where he could, around the edges of my own.
Selected answer:he could allow himself to grieve only a little, and a little at a time
Entered by: NancyLynn

01:08 Jan 5, 2008
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
English term or phrase: He had to catch his sadness where he could, around the edges of my own.
Jack managed to hold off his tears until the Town Car rolled through the cemetery gates. Before that he had, by and large, been too busy in his role of comforter of the bereaved mother, and footman to her grief to spare much time for his own sorrow. My mourning devoured everything. It was so all-encompassing that it left little room for Jack to grieve. He had to catch his sadness where he could, around the edges of my own.
Shirley Fan
Local time: 05:45
he could allow himself to grieve only a little, and a little at a time
Explanation:
he had to catch his moments of grieving as he could, the way a busy mother of three catches her quick rests (or KudoZ questions) as she can, in between changing diapers, picking up messes and calming tantrums and fights among siblings ;-),

Selected response from:

NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 17:45
Grading comment
Thank you!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +6he could allow himself to grieve only a little, and a little at a time
NancyLynn


  

Answers


22 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
he had to catch his sadness where he could, around the edges of my own.
he could allow himself to grieve only a little, and a little at a time


Explanation:
he had to catch his moments of grieving as he could, the way a busy mother of three catches her quick rests (or KudoZ questions) as she can, in between changing diapers, picking up messes and calming tantrums and fights among siblings ;-),



NancyLynn
Canada
Local time: 17:45
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 75
Grading comment
Thank you!

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Ines Garcia Botana
2 hrs

agree  Patricia Townshend (X)
5 hrs

agree  Gina Ferlisi
7 hrs

agree  Cristina Santos
19 hrs

agree  Alfa Trans (X)
3 days 18 hrs

agree  V_Nedkov
5 days
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