Not everybody will have a merry Christmas

I'm not big on Christmas any more; it's a great time to be a child, but I just try not to be a grinch while waiting for it to be over.  I count my blessings daily, and my needs are met, but honestly, I could do without Christmas these days.  I know how lucky I am to have my husband with me at Christmas.  

Cliff has a cousin, Edna, that I've grown close to over the years.  She had to be put in a nursing home in the Ozarks due to covid, and came close to dying.  Her son Mike, who lives in Indiana, went to see her and wasn't happy with her level of care or her condition, so he loaded her up in his car and put her in a nice rest home near his home, visiting her every single day.  He got her a device that let her call me on Facebook Messenger, and for a while she'd call me every day.  She told me the same things each day, because she had some dementia, but I just let her talk.  I'm sure we talked half an hour or more, some days.

Meanwhile, Mike's oldest sister got Covid for the second time and was almost at death's door.  A relative in the Ozarks died (from covid), so he drove to the funeral to take his mother, who was doing much better at this point at the new facility.  While there, he visited his sister in the hospital, saw she wasn't doing well at all, and put her in the car and took her back home with him, to stay with him and his wife, Janice.

For the last month or so, Edna hadn't called me on Messenger.  I just assumed she had forgotten about me, and I hated to call her for fear the timing would be wrong.  It's a different time zone and I didn't want to call around meal time, bath time, and so forth.

I never knew Mike.  I met him as a child a some fifty years ago, and then once at an anniversary party for his parents; but I certainly didn't know him at all.  Now I've seen how he loves and helps his family, so I have a great respect for him.  I told him once on Messenger what a wonderful son and brother he is, and he replied, "Family is what it's all about." 

So imagine my sadness at his message to me this morning.  

Hi Donna. Hope Cliff is doing good with his hearing. Haven't given you an update lately. Mom's dementia has taken a nose dive. She was in the hospital for a couple weeks. She's back in the nursing home in physical, speech and occupational therapy. She is being very combative with the nurses. Janice and I were with her a couple days before she went to the hospital. I'll just say it was bad. If she doesn't do well by Wednesday they are going to get Hospice to come in and help to try to give her a little quality of life.  Same time Mom was in the hospital I tested positive. My wife had a heart attack and covid. She went in on the 22nd of Nov. She passed away this morning.  It's been a hard year.

I'm sure any prayers for this man would be appreciated.  He has been through so much pain and sorrow.

Count your blessings!