The Read-a-Writer

WHEN TIMES GET TOUGH... ... and giving up is all you want. Recently, I lost a wonderful friend. She had health issues for the last decade or so - I'm really not 100% certain how long - but I thought things were getting better. Anyway, she died last week, and I can only wonder what was going through her mind at the time. To be honest, I'm not sure I really  want to know. Then again, it might give me some kind of closure. Though I'm not certain I really need any. We hadn't been super close for a while now. I'm actually not certain if I could have done anything more than I already did. Her sister told me she loved the little gifts I made and gave her last year. And her mom said she enjoyed the time we spent together. But I still can't help asking myself if I could have done more.  She may have been surrounded by people who loved her, but it could have helped  that I go visit with her a little more than I did.

 It's taken me quite some time - mostly doodling on WordPress before coming over here - to actually begin working on this blog. I'm not even sure if I'll completely forget about WordPress, but this will at least be a place where I can do something  that's blog-related. When I was 16 I thought I had most of my life figured out. I didn't. It turns out life had some twists and turns for which I hadn't prepared myself. You know the saying "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"? That was how I was raised, but that's not how I thought for a long time. Even now - 20 years after the terrible twist  that altered my and my family's lives forever - I'm still  adjusting. My parents are, as well. My brothers both moved away a few years ago, so they don't have to deal with me on a daily basis. A part of me wants to get really mad at them for leaving my parents alone to deal with me. Or for leaving me  alone to deal with them . But we're mana...