Phyllis Sommer shares how her son Sam’s illness and death have caused her to rethink the way she speaks, drawing from her own experience in learning that the word "dead" takes on a different meaning when applied to an uncharged cell phone or one’s deceased brother who will never return.

Phyllis regularly blogs (and tweets!) about the ins-and-outs of her life as rabbi, wife, and mother of four, leading the Huffington Post to name her as one of their “Influential Jewish Twitter Users” of 2011. But most recently, she has chronicled her family’s experiences in the aftermath of the cancer diagnosis, treatment, and death of her son, Sam.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx