Tuesday, May 26, 2015

A Month of Losses

Our family has had to be extra strong this month just to cope with illness and death.  We lost Jill and Gary.  Kim had surgery and I'll have mine next week.  It's been rough but we'll band together and survive because that's what we have to do.

I remember when my mother-in-law passed away and Faye looked at me and said, "we're the oldest generation now".  It shook me a bit but, to be honest, if we don't die along the way, one day we become the oldest generation.  I wonder if our children hope to hang on to us because, once we're gone, they become the oldest generation.

Jill's passing was hard because she never really had a chance to live.  She remained an infant all her life and her good luck was that she had her wonderful parents, Donna and Frank, to care for her the whole time.

Gary had fought different cancers for a few years and had finally come to the point where he couldn't be helped any more.  His death was a blessing in some ways because his pain and discomfort was finally over.

All families will reach the time when they lose one of their family members.  It is never easy no matter how much warning they're given.When we lose a family member, we're losing a part of our selves and our life history.  We are lesser for the loss and that hole in our lives will never be filled again.

I was talking to my friend, Norma, yesterday and saying I didn't fear death as long as I wasn't in pain or lying around like a vegetable for ages which would drain my precious daughters.  I hope I leave fast when it's time for me to go.  Joyce and I used to have an assisted suicide pact (just in case) but she's been stricken with Alzheimer's so I can't count on her now.  What I do need is a living will and I've put off getting one for too long...time to do what's right and necessary!  

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