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Dwindling family
Both my father’s parents were one of multiple children. I’m talking about over ten in each family. So there’s a lot of family around that I don’t know and probably never will know. I think I’ve run across a few through the DNA testing sites.
My mom’s father was an only child although she had a step-father who was also from a large family. My maternal grandmother was the oldest of nine children. There were five girls and four boys. The youngest two are actually younger than my mom and the third youngest is only slightly older. You could say they grew up more like siblings their true relationship. My mom even lived in the same house for a period of time growing up.
Less than two years ago, the youngest, my aunt E, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Like most of this part of the family she’d smoked all her adult life and I don’t know that she’d quit like some family members or not. Anyway, her prognosis initially wasn’t good but then she saw a different doctor who did surgery. Apparently that made things a lot better and she was doing okay. But then she ended up rushed to the hospital in massive pain and it turns out the cancer had spread throughout her body. The outlook was was poor but there was a plan to start her on chemotherapy. Then she decided she wasn’t going to go down that path. It makes no difference because she died soon afterwards on September 7th, just three days before her 75th birthday.
Out of that family of nine kids, she was one of the ones I was closest to. She lived across the road from my grandma until my grandmother moved into an apartment. I last saw her on my November 2017 trip and we had a good visit one afternoon. I’m grateful I was able to spend that time with her. For my mom’s part, it’s much like losing a sister. In fact she was closer to her aunt than she was her sisters (who were ten and fifteen years younger). I am glad she didn’t suffer a long time but it really is sad that I will never see her again. Instead I will keep my memories of her close.
This brings that part of the family down to two brothers and one sister still living. The sister is also another close relationship and this is made harder by the fact she is suffering from Alzheimer’s and is living in the nursing home where my other aunt spent her last days. It’s weird to think of this family passing out of existence but it won’t be too long until it happens.
Not to mention that my parents are no longer young. With both in the latter 70s it’s possible they could be struck down by any number of ailments. At the moment, though, they are both in relatively decent health, which is a relief to me.
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Anniversaries
Three days ago, it marked one year since our cat died from injuries likely caused by a dog attack. In some ways it seems a long time ago then it doesn’t seem so long ago. There are still the occasions when I return home and expect to see her lazily walking down the driveway, making me wait to pull the car in. :) I changed my Facebook picture to one with her in it last year but I think I will soon change to something new since it’s already been over a year.
Today would have been my close friend’s birthday if she were alive. This is my local close friend who died four and a half years ago from bowel cancer. She should be 54 now. She is still on my mind a lot of the time but so it’s kind of weird to think it’s been so long since we talked now.
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Mary Poppins
Last November my close friend, K, and I found out the stage show Mary Poppins was coming to Perth and we were both quite excited as we’d heard it was playing over in the eastern states before and wondered if we’d be lucky enough to have it travel west. I’d ordered the tickets a few days after they’d gone on sale and managed to get some pretty decent seats, a vast improvement over the previous show we’d seen earlier last year. The date was set for May 10th at 8pm. It was just a matter of waiting for the performance.
Unfortunately my friend K wasn’t there with me to enjoy the show a couple days ago. For more than a year and a half, she’d been undergoing treatment for cancer that had spread to her liver. In February she stopped the treatment and started palliative care. Last month she was taken to hospice and her condition deteriorated rapidly in a matter of days, such that she wasn’t expected to live more than a few days. She hung on for more than two weeks but finally had her release from the pain and suffering on May 3rd. It was expected but still such a shock and will continue to be for a while.
K had been so looking forward to Mary Poppins. Her memory had gotten really bad and she’d call up quite regularly to check she hadn’t missed it and I’d reassure her. When I finally had the news of her death, one of the first things I thought was she really was going to miss the show. It wasn’t until that point I could or would do anything about her ticket…although it would have become necessary to take some action before the night. I thought about not going but I knew K would want me to be there. I was fortunate to have another friend able to go at short notice and understanding the situation completely.
Last Thursday I went to see Mary Poppins and it was a really lovely show.. My friend K would have loved it and we’d have marveled over the set designs and changes. And the songs and the dancing. A very entertaining show it certainly was. I did enjoy seeing it with another friend but it wasn’t an easy night and I so missed my friend and her company. And I’ll continue to miss her company at many shows in the future but her memory will always be with me.