As I said in my earlier post, I’ve been rather scattered. The following post was actually started in February or March, so even though I’m a day late and a dollar short, I still wanted to share my sentiment of the time.

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I keep hoping things will get better, but hell no! 2021 has other ideas.

The other day my brother had a stroke and my father in law died. All in one frikkin day!!!

My brother’s surgery went well. I was more anxious for the next day, because that’s when my sister’s surgery went awry. Some time after the surgery, he texted me to tell me he’d had a stroke. That was a good sign. I laughed and asked him “why are you “fuckin’ texting me?” My bad. What kind of sister does that? Right? To be honest, I told him I knew and how much I loved him before I cursed at him. And, I told him that again and again. He tried texting me about our sister Diana. I didn’t understand what he was trying to get across and I didn’t push it. I already knew he was having trouble putting sentences and thoughts together.

The next morning was the same. But, as the day went on it was getting better. The doctor said there’d been three clots. One in the carotid, the other two in other parts of the brain. Oh, our brains.

I told my half brother he was lucky we didn’t have the same dad, because everyone on daddy’s side has had strokes and in my sisters case it may have been a stroke induced by the brain surgery. We really don’t know because with Covid locking everything down, we never got to a doctor again. Her doctor had indicated that given where they were working it was possible, that’s why they’d been careful not to get too close to the pituitary and also the ocular nerve as that could have caused blindness. Despite their best intentions, neither precaution worked. Who knows, right? Anyway, Grandpa, Daddy and my Uncle Tracy all died of strokes.

So, I guess I should get checked. I am on a statin, but so was my brother. We both workout diligently and eat right. I, however did smoke at one time. (I did get checked, but I’m good)

As for my father in law –

He went into the hospital Thanksgiving Day. It was downhill from there. He was four weeks shy of turning 95. He was ready but not in a bad way and he was tired. There were times he wished he could last to 100. Last year, however, when we left his usual birthday dinner place in La Jolla, the waiter warmly said, “Happy Birthday, see you next year!” Jack muttered under his breath, as we walked away, “I hope not!” I almost erupted in laughter, because I thought he’d never get around to it, so yes, he was ready. He and Marge were a team, so it’s just Marge now, that is sad. It’s always the one that gets left behind that hurts.

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I think the hospital knew too because normally because of Covid, visitors are not allowed, but the last couple of days, they allowed Marge in so they could say their goodbyes. Up until he was taken away on Thanksgiving day, Jack, had been lucid, so even though his body was failing him, his mental faculties had been fine. It was only in the past couple of weeks there’d been noticeable changes.

My brother, in the meantime is improving each day. He looks great, but he says he still needs speech therapy. So, that’s still an issue, but his mobility has improved considerably.

Since then things appear to be more blissful on the homefront, so I’m good. I’m walking a lot and feeling better than I ever have, so that’s cool.

It’s interesting but I remember many years ago, one of my co-workers with my same name always had some drama constantly going on in her life. Do people draw in bad karma? Is there such a thing? I wonder.

In my case, I realize, a good deal of it is just that my friends and family, like me are getting older so some of these things happen or are bound to happen.

Today: A new day!

As this year winds down, I thought things would start looking up, but no, it hasn’t.

Today, I got a call from my daughter, who is headed to St. Louis right now. She said my granddaughter wandered into the police station with a stab wound.

She’s alive and doing well, as best she can, I suppose. No details. My granddaughter has had addiction issues in the past and like my fellow bloggers, who I follow and who follow me, her addiction has long been a concern for me and our family. I continue to thank them for their support.

Are these all a symptom of Covid?

As I ponder the rest of my year, here’s hoping it goes better and that this will be the end of it. Prayers needed. Sigh.