Currently Reading Frankenstein: Prodigal Son By Dean R. Koontz, Kevin J. Anderson see related

This is one occasion that so many things have happened that I have had a lot to write about but no time to write.  First my mother died.  I could either go into a long explanation about our relationship (that would take years to write) or I could just share with you the poem I wrote which provides all the explanation you'll need.

My mother has died
You look at my dry eye
I'm sure you wonder why
And what kind of child am I
Not to mourn that passing
The funeral director asked
(for the obituary)
Was the illness long?
That was when my sister said
What was in my own head
I can't remember a time
when she didn't cough
Both thinking still
But keeping to ourselves
Does emotional illness count?
My eye is dry and this is why
I know that today is the first day
In as long as I have known
That Mom is not suffering
Today she will forget to cough
Her mind will be restored
To the innocence she longed for
The innocence she pretended
For denial was her most intimate friend
Today, tortured no more by twisted mind
And twisted body
Her soul roams with the Lord
And yet I do mourn
But not for her
I mourn that I will have to wait
For my own heavenly reward
To know a mother
Who has been restored
God's good work once begun in her
Now complete

The day began with Mom's death at 8:00 a.m.  [She always was a morning person] and it did not get better.  Mom earthly body had accumulated 86 years of age on the day of her passing into the next life--an age when no one is shocked to hear that you have died and "natural causes" is assumed.  But my cousin's son was only 30, an age that some of think of as "still a child", "hasn't begun to live" and we expect many more years to pass before body and soul are peacefully separated.  Chris Carter died at about 4:00 p.m. (obviously not a morning person) finally losing his battle with muscular dystrophy.  Jerry, another one of you kids has had to wait too long for that cure you have worked for, for so long.

In contrast, there has been another family situation brewing. I'm not inclined to believe that anyone who doesn't know me reads my blog but if the waves of the Internet have brought you here and you don't know my from Eve, then I'll tell you that my grown son has been living in a far away state for just over a year. In Michigan there lives a lovely young lady named Ashleigh and no one appreciates her loveliness more than my son.  He is so taken with her that his greatest desire is to make her his wife but he has no job and that is a problem for obvious reasons.  Failing to find employment in Michigan, his plan was to come home and obtain employment in a place where fewer people are looking for a greater number of jobs.  The poverty inflicted by the unemployment prevented a proper proposal with ring.  OK, Ok, I can't stand to talk that way any more...  I had a engagement and wedding ring set that I could not wear because they didn't fit anymore--but we're not going there.  So, I had the rings adjusted to Ashleigh's size and mailed the rings to Wesley.  He received the rings the day before Mom died.  That was two days before the anniversary of their first date.  To make a long story longer the engagement became official on March 30 but that was just the beginning of the fireworks.

Ashleigh went home to tell her parents her happy news and they were anything but happy!  That evening she wound up staying in Wesley's apartment because she did not feel she was welcome in her own home anymore.  April 1, Wesley flew home to go to  his grandmother's funeral.  We thought at that point that we were about to have a long term house guest.  While Wes was away for the funeral, Ashleigh reconciled with her parents and moved back in.  As it stands now, we will have our house guest but not as soon as we anticipated.  We expect Ashleigh mid-summer instead.  But who knows, things seem to change rapidly!