Apologies for the long delay
Hello everyone,
First off, I am sorry it's been so long since I last posted a chapter. I haven't been able to even think about writing for quite a while now.
My sister died back in August, shortly after I had posted the last chapter, and it has really derailed me in a major way. She was quite young by today's life expectancy standards, and while she did have some health challenges, none of them were of the type that would suggest she would die decades before her expected time. Everything was totally unexpected and sudden, so much so that when my mother called to tell me the awful news, it was on the tip of my tongue to ask, "Are you kidding?"
Not because I thought she would ever, ever joke about such a thing, of course. It was just because I found the news to be so completely unbelieveable. Thankfully common sense stilled my tongue and I didn't ask the question. But that was how I felt - that a thing like that could not possibly be true. I still have trouble believing it, even all these months later. I think part of me is still in denial.
I just keep thinking how in my entire life, it never once really crossed my mind that my sister would die before either of my parents. It just seems unbelievable. I feel very fortunate to be old enough that all my children are adults now, and I still have both my parents alive. I know many people suffer a lot of losses earlier in life.
But still, the loss of my sister leaves an aching wound. Just trying to write about it brings me to tears. I'm wondering if it will always be that way.
For all that, though, I have started in on chapter 80, finally. I don't have much written yet, but I'm hoping that will change in the days to come.
Thank you for understanding.
Aspen