Sorry I've been not posting regularly on this little blog lately, but in true 2013 form, there's been a lot of drama and sadness again in the family. This time, my partner's family. Her grandmother suffered a major stroke 1 week ago and was put into a hospice facility last weekend. The family rallied around her and came to say their goodbyes on Sunday and Monday, anticipating that the stroke would take her from us quickly. But in true grandma form, she held on for a week, fighting every step of the way. Unfortunately, she passed away Thursday night so now there is another deep loss felt in the family, much too soon after my father passed away.
2013 has so far been the year of loss and drama. A beloved teacher colleague of mine died of brain cancer back in March, my father passed away in May, my partner's great aunt AND great uncle (married to each other) passed away within 6 weeks of each other, my aunt (dad's sister) passed away in July, and now my partner's grandmother. This year has sucked and my entire focus of the year, besides teaching, has been in dealing with death and it's aftermath. Estate settling, garage sales, official paperwork, funeral planning, funeral attending, etc etc etc. It definitely takes away the fun and enjoyment of the summer.
And now, it affects our vacation. We had a week long trip to New York planned, starting tomorrow. Grandma's funeral is Tuesday. So needless to say, we aren't going to New York on Sunday. We've moved our flight to Wednesday morning so that we are able to be here for the funeral and to spend time with the families. And of course I am not begrudging this chain of events...I would expect nothing less than to be here for the funeral. I wouldn't dream of missing it. But needless to say it really puts a damper on our one big vacation for the year. Kathy is obviously upset and worried about her mom and how she's handling the loss and the responsibilities. So I know that there will be some dampened excitement surrounding this trip. In the grand scheme of things, it's 1 small vacation out of many we've had and many more to come, but when we have such a limited amount of time together as it is because of her work schedules, it's a bummer to have to lose 3 days of time together for something so sad.
So, that's where I've been. All I have to hope is that the rest of 2013 goes away quickly with no other major losses or horrendous events. I'm not sure I can take anymore.
