Talking With My Family
I can separate my family into three groups. First up are my siblings and my daddy. Daddy and my older sister will ask sometimes how I am doing, but I feel it is mostly like an obligation to them. My two older brothers never ask and I never bring it up. Next up are my in-laws. They always ask and then treat me like an invalid. Last, but not least, are my friends who are more of a family to me than the others. They ask, they listen, and they care. If only we could pick our family, right? I lost my mom and my other older sister when I was 20. I know that they would be in the third group. And after being diagnosed, I missed them even more, and God knows I miss them. My sister, Gina, was my best friend as well as being my sister. We told each other everything. I consider the year before my mommy passed the greatest present God gave me. Daddy traveled for work, my siblings came over when they could but at the end of the day, it was me who made sure she was taking her meds, I was the one who helped her to the bathroom, who got her in her nightgown, and dressed the following day. I was the one who cooked for her and then encouraged her to eat it, and I was the one whose shoulder she cried on when we were notified that my sister and her daughter, had been murdered in Guam while serving in the Navy. While she was crying on my shoulder, I was crying on hers. To this day, I can feel her arms around me, but it is fading and it is fading fast due to MS, depression and anxiety. Neither of them to see me graduate from college. Mommy wasn't at my wedding watching me and Gina as my maid of honor. They weren't there when I gave birth to my two babies, Benjamin and Steven, and they weren't there as my boys graduated from high school, Ben just squeaking by, and Steven graduating with honors...7 of them! Rambling over for now, more later...maybe. Thanks for reading my rambling.
Hello @lisasd, well, this site is the best possible place to go if you need a rant, or advice. We may not be relatives, or friends as such but we all know what's involved with having MS! I'm sorry you've had some terrible losses. I've had some recent loses and to tell the truth, I often still chat to them in my head, just as if I were chatting to them on the phone. I'm sure you get great joy from your boys, and that they look after you! In the UK, the Covid lockdown is just starting to ease a little bit, but it's been a really horrible time, so much suffering (nearly 40,000 have died). My consultant told me recently (via phone) that every one of her patients reports that their symptoms feel worse, and that the level of anxiety has really risen. Well, I'm not sure this post is cheering you up, but at least you know that through rambling, you have someone who understands you on the other side of the planet! Take care, look after yourself x
@lisasd , it's quite cathartic to write things like that down, "A problem shared is a problem halved", so they say. We all need an angel like you, to keep the family together. But, as you say, "you can't choose your family." And, another phrase seems appropriate, "there's nowt so queer as folk" to explain the behaviour of some.