Tough Times

Sorry it's been a slow few weeks around here, it's been a challenging time for us.

First, my wife's an accountant and it's been tax time, so her part time job this time of year turns into 40-50 hours per week. Normally she's home when the younger two kids get off the bus, but not now. On top of that, she's back in school pursuing her CPA. This term she only has one on line class, but she still has to log in several times a week, there are homework assignments and case studies to do. Of course it's hardest on Maria, but it does affect the whole family.

Then, Easter weekend, shortly after arriving at my Mom and Dad's Friday night, we got a call from Maria's brother that her Dad was in the hospital. He had emergency hernia surgery and was on a respirator and it didn't look like he was going to be able to come off of it, yet he was demanding they remove the tube. We got Maria a flight out of Detroit to St. Louis where she'd rent car to drive 2.5 hours to Columbia, where he was in the hospital. They removed the tube and he managed to pull through, even though all the docs had said he wouldn't. It was certainly a relief, although his oxygen levels remained dangerously low.

She also learned that her grandmother, who's health (like her Dad's) had been failing for some time, was not doing well either. She had been battling dementia for a year or two and hadn't really been 'grandma' for a while now. She was in hospice and the family was being told it wouldn't be long. Maria returned to Columbus Sunday night, leaving her Mom torn between needing to be with her recovering husband and her dying mother.

Maria's grandmother passed away that Tuesday and we made plans to head to Rushville IL for the funeral that next weekend. It was both sad and yet a bit of a relief as her quality of life had gone down significantly in the past year or so.

That was the weekend of the 30th. A little over a week ago, on Saturday the 12th, we learned that her Dad had apparently had a stroke the night before. Her mom awoke to find him still in his chair, unresponsive. He was taken to the hospital where it was confirmed. There was no indication he recognized anyone at all. He had requested no heroic measures, so it was only a matter of time before his body caught up with where it seemed his mind had already gone. In the early morning hours the following Sunday, he passed away.

Her Mom had remarked a while back as their health was failing that she was afraid that she was going to loose her husband and mother in the same week. Unfortunately, she was too close to being right as in reality, it was not quite three.

So this past week we made another trip west to Missouri to bury Maria's father. Because of his recent suffering, it was once again sad and yet a relief.

Of course, regular life - colds, school, clarinet lessons, choir practice, gymnastics, church, dishes, laundry - goes on in the midst of it all. Ironically, emotionally I think we're all doing OK, but physically we're drained, Maria more so of course. She returns to part time in a week or two, so that's good, but next term she's taking 3 classes instead of 1. She flat amazes me with what she takes on.

Anyway, that's where I've been of late.