Okay, that is a given, but I hope you do not mean to denigrate anyone who is sad for the loss of the collection. Since he himself has dealt or is dealing with his family issues and obviously the post is about having lost a part of himself in his collection (which can be just as emotionally damaging though it is just "stuff,") I do not think it inappropriate to commiserate with him on that loss.
We can also commiserate with him on his familial loss and problems, as I am certain someone else here has similar experience, at least enough to relate. Personally, I am lucky enough not to have such an experience in my nuclear family.
Not at all - I'm saying it in the spirit of "
he can worry about his things" -
I'm not, I'm more concerned about him, in the general sense of concern for a fellow human being.
My dad always told me, "Son, they're just things, things can be replaced."