A Sabbatical of Mercy

Ok, I ended a job that was just not right for me. I ended it in good standing, hey I don't believe in burning bridges, hell as an existential witch I don't believe in burning of any kind... I'm sure you could understand. I looked forward to lunches with my daughter and her unborn little girl, Annabelle, my grandchild. I looked forward to resuming Zumba classes with Gerry's daughter Erica, who deserves stress management while planning her upcoming wedding in October... on mischief night... oh, how fun that will be! I planned on writing and blogging and cleaning this albatross of a big old house that has seemed to out- serve it's intended purpose as a home for a large family... me, Gerry and Otis could do so much better in a Eurovan down by a river, or a canyon, or at the beach. So much work and planning and so little time and few buyers on the horizon. But all things considered I am the luckiest person in the world, I have my health and exuberance. The carpal tunnel and elbow mouse that I inherited as a condition of continuing my blogs and working full time on a computer screen is no match for our visit this weekend with my beautiful sister-in -law Ellen and her husband Dan.. who is dying of lung cancer. He is on hospice and frequent doses of liquid morphine... rambling in and out of coherency, sometimes funny and sometimes belligerent, while Ellen patiently loves him as she always has. She is a mastered degreed social worker and has spent a lifetime helping others in medical, social, and psychological dilemmas ... and now these dramas frame her own life. It doesn't seem fair that this saint of a person should deal with the difficulties of a dying spouse on her own, and that my in-laws who are well into their eighties should have to be her sole support... I can hear in their voices that it is too much for them. So I will return to her next week, so she can continue the work she loves, while keeping an eye on her husband who continues to smoke and is so weak that he could pose a real danger to himself. I always trust the universe in its willing desire to help you with decisions of timing... the ones related to love and compassion... you must figure out for yourself.