Nothing much going on

Another Tuesday, garbage day. My garbage can is still by the curb, haven't had the energy to drive the car out and put the can back in.
It has been drizzling here all day, and even though it's not cold outside, I cannot get warm.

Thanks for the rah rah words, Joann, I am trying, but it's gonna take some really good news or some really fabulous presents (kidding) to make me feel good about Christmas.

Yes, I have more than a lot of people, roof over my head, people to love, etc. But it's the distant relatives that make me worry. Not only my wayward son, but also my parents, who are not happy that my sister will not be there for the holidays, as she planned at the last moment to visit her son in Barcelona. Mom still doesn't understand that my sister is still hurting from the death of her husband 25 years ago, and she hasn't been home for Christmas for years, she just can't.

I received a card from my Godmother, my mother's youngest sister, who lost her husband a few years ago to colon cancer, and can't get herself out of the grieving mode. I hear her pain, I know how hard it is.

I read a poignant email from a dear friend who remembers the good old days, as tough and hard as they were, but he remembers the love and the warmth of hard working parents, trying to make Christmas something to remember for their kids, and who lives in a dying area now, not really able to move to warmer places or pull up roots and start over somewhere else.

My cousin in OZ who's ex wife is dying of ovarian cancer, strangely enough pulling that family back together again. But I hear his worry and pain, about his wife and his mother, who is declining with dementia.

My other cousin in OZ who must miss her sisters and brothers in Holland at times like this.

We're all so far apart. We are all longing for our families to be together one more time.

I know people who have never moved from the city they were born in and raised their families.
Some of those folks cannot imagine what the hell I am talking about.
But once you leave, be it your state or country, you cannot go back again. You leave all that behind and really lose your connection in a way. 3000 Miles apart will do that.

In my generation I cannot think of many couples that have stayed together. Of all the friends we had, very few are still married. I sincerely believe that divorce has wreaked more havoc in the world pulling families apart than any drought or recession or illness.

Oh, I am grateful for what I have, and I'll try as hard as I can to enjoy the few moments that will come our way next week. But my heart will not stop hurting for those we love and cannot be with, and the friends who are in the same boat, and understand the depth of this hurt.

I sure hope the sun will come out for a bit tomorrow, we all need some fresh air, stretch our legs so to speak.

SGMKJ!