Anderson and Gloria

CNN reporter Anderson Cooper has a new talk show -- Anderson. From the clip below, it seems like intelligent talk TV, none of Tyra's phoniness. I hope we'll see it on local cable soon.

In this interview with mom Gloria Vanderbilt, one of the most famous rich women from the last century, he asked her to recount the last moments before his brother's suicide. She was right there before he jumped off the balcony. "I think about it all the time...you never get over it", said Gloria.

I was also the last one to see my 5-year-old brother before he accidentally drowned in the deep end of an un-chlorinated pool without anyone seeing. The memory remains fresh 36 years after. It's not an internal rumour, like how one writer describes memory. I always dream about it, and frame-by-frame it's how it similarly plays in my head during my waking hours.

After seeing how boldly Anderson confronted his mom about Carter's death and how he fought back his tears, I've been thinking of asking my mom how she survived my kid brother's death. It appeared to me then that her healing process was quick. But I was young, impressionable enough to think that her grief ended when she tucked away my brother's clothes and toys. I am so curious but not as brave as Anderson.