Seniors

I’ve read your posts, slightlv, and the first thing that they make me think of is: “how would I handle all this? How on earth?”

I would guess the only thing you can realistically do, after taking precautions like you’ve done, is face up and keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Your journey is seriously one of those “teachable moments” (did Obama coin that phrase?) that I bet a BUNCH of us here would be smart to learn, or at least be open to. I mean, shit, things might be rolling along just fine but then tomorrow could bring some calamity like a major auto accident or serious bathroom or kitchen flood or some such thing.

It seems so trivial to describe the burst pipe that surprised us back in mid-January, that utterly destroyed our guest bedroom. Right down to the floorboards and wall insulation and other basics. And sheesh - who’s prepared for THAT? What a mess and we’d never experienced ANYTHING like that. And yet, once we hoped everything had thoroughly dried (summer had arrived!) we risked taking tentative steps toward trying to get it all rehab’d. We got reputable advice and groped our way through all of it, but it finally got finished by the end of August.

But that is NOTHING compared with what you’re dealing with, and a WHOLE LOT more serious! And again, I guess the only realistic thing to do that makes any sense is to take the baby step route. One foot in front of the other. Make sure both feet are in stable contact with the ground, and try to take a few steps forward, even if they’re little steps. Then stop and recognize that you made some forward-leaning progress, and feel good about how you successfully gathered up your courage and TRIED.

Heck, THAT ALONE is an achievement! And even better when it leads to another several steps forward. And before you know it, you’ve taken a few dozen steps and those steps got you to some help that might make sense.

For us, it was one-foot-in-front-of-the-other, over and over again, til we suddenly realized it was the end of August and the whole damn thing got DONE.

THAT was both startling and tremendously gratifying! We actually were pretty proud of ourselves and all those little baby steps, cuz all those baby steps headed directly to the Finish Line!

And PLEASE keep this in mind: anything you’re doing to confront the problem or get over being overwhelmed by it, no matter how small or ridiculous or unrealistic you THINK your efforts are, it all means you’re on the road to getting it intelligently DEALT WITH. And TAKEN CARE OF.

Do NOT forget that, my friend! Let the Grateful Dead refrain about “what a LOOOOOOOOONNNNG strange trip it’s been…” carry you through every day. And please keep in mind that NOTHING lasts forever. Not the good times. And DEFINITELY not the bad times. George Harrison had an album called “All Things Must Pass.” And all things do. INCLUDING THE BAD PARTS!!!!!

HUGS GALORE to you, slightlv! You’ve shared all of this with your DU brothers and sisters. And THAT means you’re automatically NOT trudging through this alone. And as our beloved Skittles has reminded: “someone’s always here.” Don’t forget THAT, either.



PS: Sorry I went on so long.