Things Have Changed

Since the "Great Ice Storm of 2008," my life has not been the same. Had I not been the primary care-giver of an elderly mother who lives in her own home two towns away, the ice storm would not have been too difficult for me. Yes, yes, my immediate family was without power for 5 whole days (we survived on a generator loaned to us by a stranger-saint who lives nowhere near us) , though that was nothing to those who lost power for 12 days (like my mother) or even considerably longer. In fact some folks, like my mother, lost phone service for over 20 days.

Indeed a black-out in New England during the winter solstice is not all that romantic, especially with a declining mother nearby. On Day Two of the outage, I placed her in a Red Cross shelter. On Day Three, she was essentially evicted for being "too difficult." By Day Six, after having spent too much time in our little and inaccessible house, my mother was admitted to the hospital, where she remained for 20 days (plans had been outlined in November to admit her into a rehabilitation program). With the back-and-forth between home and hospital, and with the stress of battling the frigid elements that threatened my mother's house (where my learning-disabled and essentially orphaned nephew also lives), I have not only found little time for blogging (by the way, our internet service was out for 14 days, too), our family did not celebrate Christmas. No tree, no lights, no stockings, no gifts, no dinner. And no church. We were practical atheists, uncomprehending the Light.

Now my mother is back in her home, and I am really immersed in her day-to-day care. She refuses to go to a nursing home; since I do not have power-of-attorney for her health-care, my choices are to either grant her her wishes or petition probate court to grant me the powers necessary to force her where she does not want to go. What to do? Time will tell.

As it now stands, I will not be much of a blogger for a while. I may subscribe to some sort of internet service at my mother's house so I can do what I do (and blogging is not all that I do on-line) from some temporary office space there. But my guess is that I will disappear for a spell.

Bliss!

BG