(4 PM – promoted by TMC)
As some of you may know, I’ve been writing for several years off and on about coping with a debilitating chronic illness, dealing with a special needs child, and becoming a full time caretaker to my mom, who is suffering with rapidly progressing dementia. I’ve written about difficulties with doctors, feeling guilt over not being an active enough parent, feeling the grief of losing a parent who is still sitting there right in front of you, and the strategies I’ve used to cope with these things. Half in the hope that what I wrote would help somebody else, and half because it helped me, just to be able to talk about it.
I did that for the series “Chronic Tonic”–which I was proud to be a part of, and try to carry on, but now I feel like it’s time to move forward, you know, broaden my scope. Because coping is not just about being ill, or dealing with a school system and your kid’s IEP, or even your mom losing herself. It’s about life. And it’s about family, and I have a big one.
I have the family I was born into, and that one is pretty big, my mom is one of nine, my dad is one of seven, and all of them procreated like crazy. But I also have another family, the family I chose, and who chose me, some of whom I’ve never met, but they’re family just the same. The illustrious internets have made it possible for us to go through hell and high water together, and that’s pretty much what we’ve done.
I’ve found that experience to be life sustaining for me. As the world in general seems to growing colder and more selfish, I find myself with a need for being kinder and more open. I know there are things I wouldn’t have gotten through without being able to talk about and have people who actually listen. Life throws all of us curveballs, and we could all use support when that shit happens.
So, I’ve decided to start something new. I’ll be posting a little something every week here from Hellpeckersville, whatever the week may bring, and from there we can talk about whatever we need to. What a mess this country is, the way we live today, the employment situation, depression, everything, and all the things we do to get by. The little islands of happiness we try to find along the way. Do you find that in art, music, food, inappropriate humor? Bring it.
I have a big family, but I have room for more~
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“Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies-God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.”
-Kurt Vonnegut
this week, mental health, suicide, and the loss of Robin Williams have weighed heavily on my mind… my family has a very dominant MI gene so it really hits home when something like this happens….
You took care of me at NN12. 🙂
BTW I feel like someone is stabbing me right now. My nerve damage thing. Chronic Tonic for me. X(