I got an e-mail yesterday telling me that my friend's mother, who was also my friend, died last week unexpectedly. The e-mail came from her own account, and I was used to receiving updates on her family, but the subject line was "Sheila" - her name - and I was uneasy even before I opened… Continue reading Elephants, and Friends
Category: Grief
Sicky, Sicky Boy
Elias was home sick from school today. (He’s fine. Also he’s not contagious.) I took him to express care and let the chatter in the waiting room wash over us without taking much of it in. He sat next to me on a Naugahyde loveseat and burrowed into my armpit. I reached around to rub… Continue reading Sicky, Sicky Boy
Mourning
I was at two funerals yesterday. It was a long day. The two services were different, and they were the same. Both men will be missed terribly. I think sometimes it can be confusing to be on the periphery of grief. Mostly if you're in the center, you know your role. Your role is to… Continue reading Mourning
Oh, That Again
For a person who spends a fair amount of time examining the workings of her own brain and then posting them on the internet, I am sometimes not very self-aware. Over the past week, I have been sleeping fitfully, trying to keep myself from eating everything in sight, and maintaining a tenuous grip on my… Continue reading Oh, That Again
Of Goodness
My cousin Larry died last night. This is in no way a shock; he had been in a nursing home for years. Larry was 70 years old, I think. For 63 of those years, he was in a wheelchair. Larry contracted polio when he was seven, in the early 50s, right before the first vaccine came on the… Continue reading Of Goodness