Family Emergencies and Real Life

My aunt Jan had a seizure and fell; sent to hospital and put in ICU with a ventilator. She became coherent and they eased her off of the ventilator, and was put in her own room, and finally released and sent home. Went to see her the other Saturday  before she was released and was relieved that she was her humorous, and vivacious self, but she didn’t look good. Bruised and battered from the fall, her left hand swollen, and looked like she’d been in a wreck or a fight. My heart ached for her.  (I’ll be visiting her now that she’s at home the beginning of this coming week for a couple of days.)

There isn’t much I can do right now to help her. We’ve only got one vehicle and Mr. Rockstar has needed it because he’s in a 5 week training program and has to drive to Greenville every Sunday evening or Monday morning and then hit the road. Yes, I could technically drive him there and then drive the 2 1/2 hours back but that’s using more gas than we have the money for. Right now we’re trying to catch up on bills, important one’s, and adding extra bills to that is not smart.

When I went to see Aunt Jan I was overcome with thanks and gratitude for all that she’d done for me growing up. For all the times she’s been there for me as an adult. Sometimes it was just listening to me. Other times it was taking me to Belks when I was a teenager (many, many moons ago) and buying me that pair of Calvin Klein jeans I just had to have for my birthday. Or when she made me breakfast and coffee, or had dinner cooked when I got home from a 12 hour shift when she was staying with me.

I’ve been absent from my blog for the past two weeks because I’ve been dealing with a family emergency and real life. The blog is my outlet, it’s my place to write, to vent, to create, but I have barely had time to keep up with my word count for Nanowrimo the past couple of weeks. Between Mr. Rockstar being on the road and everything else that’s been going on, the blog has been the last thing on my mind.

Funny thing about how real life is so much different than television, social media, movies, and what people tend to think of as what’s going on in your life. From the outside John and Jane Doe looks like they’re doing great. What you don’t know about them would surprise you–maybe she’s struggling each day in pain and since she has no health insurance there’s absolutely nothing she can do about it but keep on keeping on. He’s doing his best to keep on keeping on himself, and he’s the kind of man that even if he needed help would never ask for it. She’ll ask for help when she has to, because she knows he won’t, especially if it will help ease some of the burden from his shoulders. He’s already feeling so much stress and pressure it’s the least she can do to help her husband, since she can’t work right now. She’s worried about him. He’s worried about her. But they’re both finally starting to feel a little of their burdens ease because he’s got a better job, finally, and he really likes the new company he works for. They are both excited because they can finally pay their bills and buy groceries and put gas in the car, now they’re working, slowly but surely, on catching up on their bills, on the necessities they need, and soon they’ll be able to start working on things in the house they need to fix. One day at a time. One thing at a time. That’s their motto. They have each other and they’re grateful for that, and for all that they do have, especially the wonderful people they have in their life. And that’s the key.

Now it’s time for me to go back to writing my novel so that I can make my word count for today. Hope everyone has a great weekend…I’m off to ponder the world of my characters and see what kind of mischief my main character can get into.