The expression, "It's A Small World", has really been personified lately...I recently filed for early Social Security, and the newspapers are filled with articles of all the Baby Boomers are filing early for their Social Security, putting a huge strain on the system...
So many of our neighbors have taken on relatives living with them, due to the relatives losing jobs or their homes, or both... Several of those neighbors are caring for elderly parents, either in their homes or advocating, as I am.
Today while walking my dog, I saw one of my neighbors sitting on a wall, two streets over from where she lives with her husband and her Mother. Her husband is diabetic and has very low blood pressure. The other day he fell and only by accident did she come home early and found him, calling 911. The doctor told her if she had arrived a half hour later, he would not have made it.
They are wonderful neighbors. We always share gardening and planting ideas and they always welcome my dog and I to stop and visit.
I asked her if she was OK, and she looked up and made eye contact. I knew immediately she was not. She answered, "No". I asked if it was her husband again, and she told me it was not him. It was her Mother who has anal cancer. She told me she needed to get away and have time to herself. I could totally understood and left, giving her privacy.
Tonight I received an email from Mom. Her dear friends from church had their niece and her husband murdered in their beds in Rosemead this past Monday. No killer has been found, but their fourteen year old grand daughter is missing and so is their car...
Some other church friends were killed in a bus accident.
Years ago, I would hear of people I did not know or had any connection to, meeting a gruesome fate or becoming ill. Now, it seems the connections are so much closer to home...
I spoke with my best friend in California and we were both commenting on how difficult things are for so many people.
Everything seems more serious, cautious and uncertain. Today, I am really feeling the impact of it all. I feel like so many of us are all in the same boat. The world has become so much smaller...
How about you? Do you ever feel like the world has come to your front yard?
4 comments:
There are many people with a lot of things on their plate. It's hard to imagine. I haven't felt that yet, although I have come close when worrying about Heather. She's doing fine at the moment, but being diabetic, I do worry about her.
When I see what others go through, it makes my worries seem small.
I have felt very much this way lately and you described it so well. My sister-in-law has just been diagnosed with MS and is having a very hard time dealing with it on top of having trouble with her insurance company. Doc's best friend has been diagnosed with lung cancer and another, younger friend has been told she probably can't get pregnant. I am feeling very helpless in wanting to do something but not really being able to. I guess you can tell you hit home for me today.
I know what you mean. I feel like the world is falling apart and how can we feel secure with Social Security and Medicare. If it fails, we would have no income coming in. I have had so many friends pass away and just yesterday another one. A good friend & I were talking, and she said something that I feel is very true. We both are depresssed and not feeling good. She said it is becasue we can feel the vibs of all the bad things people are going through, and all the things in the world that are happening, earth quakes, floods, etc. It is like we are all treading water. It is very hard to be positive living in a negative world.
Wow - that's an awful lot of bad news! We had our share of bad news in our family - we had 5 deaths in 15 years of family members - I'm talking parents and 3 spouses (of my siblings), and then my sister-in-law had a stroke and is home on a disability and she was only 48 at the time! So, knock on wood, the last 3-4 years have been okay. THat's all we have to do is pray, and be thankful for each day.
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