friends and family...
I have not posted an update in some time, and nothing of a personal nature in even longer. Fact is, there's not been a whole lot going on.
My good friend, Lara Jeane, is back in town, and I have seen her a couple times, which makes me very happy. Two friends of mine from "back home" (that is a strange phrase, which I have found myself using a number of times recently, almost without thinking, even though I no longer consider northwest Indiana "home"), John (
desierto) and Alison are both (separately) thinking of coming to visit soon, though John has much more specific plans than Alison does. I do hope they both come---I've not seen them in a long time, and I miss them.
Speaking of "back home," I will be returning to that beautiful little corner of the world this Thursday. The plan was to go up on Sunday, because my father has two doctor's appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday, and I have some business of my own to attend to. Plus, we intended to spend some time with family. Well, we are, unfortunately, going to be spending more time with family than we (or certainly I) intended. I really hate the way that sounds, and I feel guilty about it, but I cannot deny this feeling. The fact is, my cousin, Crystal (about whom I wrote some weeks back), died in the hospital in Atlanta five days ago, and my aunt and uncle are holding a memorial service for her Thursday evening. I simply do not wish to be there. As I have said previously, I have no relationship whatsoever with my father's family. They have treated my father very shabbily for years, and make little or no effort to communicate with him, or us, or inquire as to my father's health. In the case of my Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Dorothy, the plain fact is they abused my cousin horribly during her childhood and teenage years, and they have had no relationship with her for years. She moved to Atlanta to get away from them, and she died there, in the most horrible manner I can imagine.
How do I honor her, how do I pay my respects to a person I no longer know, and avoid having anything to do with that group of people with whom I have no relationship, and for whom I have no respect?