There's good news and not-so-good news
The good news is that I'm all moved in to my new place in Vail! Stuff is still in boxes, but that's actually good because it gives me something to do/focus on my first week up there, which coinsides with my first Christmas away from home.
The not-so-good news is Ginny Banks, the grandmother of my "brother", and the woman who really feels like my own grandmother, passed early this morning. She's been on her way out for about a week, so I'm glad the transition finally came because it was hard for her to be in that state between worlds for so long. Also, she was 98 years old and just lost her husband this summer. I honestly have always known that they would not long outlast each other; they were the epitome of the perfect team, and Ginny (before she lost her powers of speech) expressed her desire to be with him again. So it's very much an understanding that it was her time, and that she's not suffering anymore, but it's still obviously very emotional for me, and even more so for my brother and his parents who now have essentially had their family cut in half all in one year, so close to Christmas.
I am very grateful that I was able to spend so much time with her this past week. At first I had a cold so wasn't able to visit her, but I went a couple of times to sing to her and give her some comfort touch massage. I also was able to go yesterday morning and bring my table to give my brother a massage, which is good because he's been taking care of her pretty much 24/7 for a week and a half, and needed someone to take care of him a little bit. I have loved seeing the similarities between birth and death; after witnessing my first birth in September I was really struck by the way both life events really draw families together to create sacred space for transitions. Time sortof becomes less important, and people rearrange their lives to be there; proving that half of what we do is just not that important. Of course, with birth, there's a little more screaming...but oddly, just as much crying... Those are my thoughts for the moment, take them as they are.