It Has to Get Better!

It has to get better. It just has to. My dad arrives home today after being gone nearly three weeks. I will be so relieved to have him home, especially after his near run-in with Pirates, yes, PIRATES! They still exist in our modern day world and my dad just happened to get close, too close in my opinion. I know we'll be joking about this one for years, but I think that if he had been captured, I probably would have suffered a mental breakdown. To quote Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Ernest, "To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune.  To lose both looks like carelessness." Seriously, would anyone have actually believed me? I'm having a hard enough time convincing people he had a near run-in with Pirates in the first place. I'm currently considering selling my life's story...it ought to make an interesting book and in this economy we could use the cash!

Pirates aside, my kids managed to get colds and then the stomach bug at the same time my mom had Pneumonia. Trying to take care of them and get to the hospital felt like being in the middle of a tug of war. Sometimes I wonder if I have a "kick me" sign taped to me somewhere where I can't see it. It feels that way. Sometimes the hardest part is feeling so torn and not feeling like anyone really understands. People tell me not to kill myself, not to overdo it, to balance my life, make priorities, but when it comes down to it, no one is in my shoes and understands the extreme difficulty of actually doing that. No matter what I do I feel badly for not doing or being what each person needs at that time.

Easter weekend is coming though. While I don't relish the difficulty of ploughing through another holiday without my mother's busy participation, at least I'll have my family together. Hospital visits, amusing the kids and fixing Easter dinner will be family affairs. I've done my darnedest to add some special touches of my own this year and I know the others will do their part as well. Last night I took a small Easter basket, an Easter Lily (from my Nana) and a blue hyacinth over to the hospital so Mom would be surrounded by little touches of the season as well. I even made her a palm cross, something she tries to get me to do every year and I usually stubbornly refuse to do. So barring unforeseen disasters (which I'd give a good even chance of occurring), I'm ready for a better week and a peaceful Easter.