This has been a hard year for us. My familiar was diagnosed with either a congenital defect or a spinal tumor, whcih eventually left her paralyzed, and we had to let her go to the Summerlands. Last November at this time, I was told I'd ed positive for Hepatitis C, a rather nasty disease. I spent Thanksgiving and Christmas waiting for the news on the more specific tests as to whether or not I had it. ( I don't) The car died once and for all. In April, my husband lost his job. Around that time, Mom started having some problems with balance. They couldn't diagnose her, and it seemed minor. In August they put her in the hospital; for tests which showed nothing--until finally they concluded she had had a small hemorrhage in her brain, but no damage.. Off she went to rehab. A week later she was dead. The month after, my husband's unemployment ran out.
Yet, hard as this year has been, there are many things to be thankful--small blessings.
Here are mine.
- Mom died quickly and painlessly, with Dad at her side, holding her hand and telling "his girl" he loved her. I wasn't able to get down there--the stroke happened so suddenly-but I was able to tell her I Ioved her.
- I don't have Hepatitis C, which means I am not having to go through a very difficult treatment program.
- Though we had to move in with my mother-in-law (who is not permitting me to practice Wicca while we live with her), we do have food on the table, a roof over our head, and she is, at heart, a good, caring woman (it's just the religious thing)
- My husband was able to retire from the Navy in 2003--and he isn't in Iraq. He starts nursing school in January.
*My mother's death has brought my Dad and I closer together.
* While I lost my familiar, she didn't suffer. And another cat needing a home came into our lives before she left us--I''d almsot swear Lamis put a fix in because they revery alike in personality, and Morgana's favorite toy is Lamis's old ball.
There are not-so-small blessings.
What are yours?