2018 has been trying, to say the least.
In January, I posted a New Year’s resolution to finish my current WIP, Whizzers, this year. Then, on Valentine’s Day, that got back-burnered when the call came that my 81-year-old mother had taken a fall and had to be hospitalized.
It wasn’t just any fall, though: she’d been on the floor for five days.
When they hear me say that, most people gasp. A common response is, Oh my God.
And for good reason. If you told me I could sustain a fall and be without food or drink for five days, and still live, I’d look at you with a doubtful scowl.
I’ll never forget that weekend after Valentine’s Day.
I remember going out the wrong exit on my way out of the hospital, running through the freezing cold to get to my car in sub-freezing temperatures, snow pelting my face.
And I remember the icy cold feeling in my chest as I drove a rental car down streets no longer familiar to me in my hometown, not knowing what was going to happen next. I remember the sheer horror at seeing my always-vital, chatty mother reduced to near-silence and requiring help with all activities of daily living for the first couple days after her fall.
Thanks To You
Today Mom is doing fine, but the fluidity of the situation still demands a lot of flexibility. That means working on her affairs while managing my own.
I’m power of attorney, an experience that can best be described as a blizzard of BS. Literally every entity I deal with on my mother’s behalf requires me to jump through their own special set of hoops, in addition to sending them a copy of the POA documentation. It’s not fun.
But Mom is down here in Florida now, in an assisted living community just a few miles away from my wife Sunny and me. Here I must acknowledge my thanks to Sunny, who has been wonderful throughout this entire year (and before that, of course). She’s an absolute angel, and my love and gratitude for her are beyond words.
As I look forward to a grateful Thanksgiving celebration with these two fabulous ladies, I want to thank all of you out there too. Some of you made this year better because you’re great clients. Others have helped me by reading and commenting here, buying books I’ve written, or even promoting me on your own social media. I thank you for that. Whizzers isn’t quite finished, but it will be in 2019.
Those of you who have helped in some other way that I didn’t list, I thank you, too. So many people have been here for me in so many ways, it’s miraculous – almost as miraculous as surviving a five-day blackout.
Happy Thanksgiving!
