Damn.
My aunt died.
Her husband woke up around 7 in the morning and found her in the floor between their bedroom and living room. He called my mom, who ran there in hysterics, she sat with her sister until they took her body away, hours later. Because it was an at home death there was a full investigation, along with an autopsy (results won't be available for 6-8 months) so they wouldn't release her for days. When they did, the funeral home she always wanted to go to required full payment of 7,000 bucks. She didn't have life insurance and no one in our family could write that check, so while she died on Friday morning her wake wasn't held until Tuesday, funeral Wedneday.
Since her father died, my grandfather, years ago she's had a problem with drugs. While she would appear to get better for a few days, maybe a week, relapses were frequent. She had problems with her lungs because of the persistent drug use. There is no way to know the exact cause of death.
And I still can't believe it. My mom and I went to visit her in the hospital a while ago. She was in a medically induced coma, the doctor's told us if she didn't quit she would die.
Things could have been so much different for her. So much better.
My mom has been unglued. I stayed with her for a week, trying to help, comfort, as much as possible. If I lost my sister......I can't fathom the pain. It would never end, never heal, never lighten.
She's back to work now. I'm hoping that having a distraction will help her, at least for now.
.....
The custody hearing was Thursday. I'm not sure if I mentioned the guardian ad litem's official report. She wanted Brian to have Aidan when I was in school, work, clinicals, and for him to have Aidan every other weekend after four months. Obviously, I was adamently against every part of it. Turns out, that wasn't necessary.
During the settlement conference, Brian said he knew he couldn't handle Aidan for that long, that that wasn't best for Aidan. So, after a couple hours of negotiating (because that bitch kept pushing Brian to take more time and he continually told her no) we settled on this: two days a week, nine hours a day. That will last until November 1st, at which point he'll have Aidan every other weekend. In addition, he'll have Aidan for two weeks, not together, during the summer of 2011 and every one after.
That's the PERMANENT plan. They offered Brian joint custody. He turned it down, again saying that wasn't in Aidan's best interest.
That wasthe first time we've agreed in a while.
I'm unhappy with the result. I'm espeically pissed about the two weeks in the summer. BUT...but, it's a hell of a lot better than it could've been. And it's permanent. He'll never get joint custody unless he petitions the court again, and he'll have to prove he deserves it.
But...how do I give Aidan up for an entire weekend? An entire week?
Ummm. I can't.
So, I'm finding another way. There's always another way.