Like if somebody had a lot of trouble in their life, but was still alive to tell about it.

"It was an old word, something he found in a dictionary, a word that had not been used for centuries. The detectives write this word down: merry-go-sorry. It means a story with good news and bad, she says slowly, frowning, remembering. Joy and sorrow mixed together, yes, that's what my son used to say."

Cary Holladay, Merry-Go-Sorry