My name, “Gerard Van der Leun,” is an unusual one.

The author, photographer, journalist, blogger Gerard Van der Leun has passed away.  His pinned final post is a tribute to his namesake uncle from 2003 and is incredibly moving.  

On Living with the Loss of a Son in Wartime. Written and first published on Memorial Day, 2003

My name, “Gerard Van der Leun,” is an unusual one. So unusual, I’ve never met anyone else with the same name. I know about one other man with my name, but we’ve never met. I’ve seen his name in an unusual place. This is the story of how that happened.

It was an August Sunday in New York City in 1975. I’d decided to bicycle from my apartment on East 86th and York to Battery Park at the southern tip of the island. I had nothing else to do and, since I hadn’t been to the park since moving to the city in 1974, it seemed like a destination that would be interesting. Just how interesting, I had no way of knowing when I left.

 

Within a few more paragraphs he has you emotionally committed to the whole piece.