Tough Week

This has been a rough week.

Work has been pretty unstable. With the economy the way it is, sales have been on a steady decline for over a year. People quitting the Customer Service dept have not been replaced, and in the company management, layoffs have been a steady drumbeat for the last 18 months. Another of the buyers was let go Thursday. The tension there is pretty intimidating; both my supervisors where given a pay cut and everyone else is looking for the axe to come at their necks. My part time job has been pretty much dropped to zero since before Christmas. I've only put in two full days (it's a one day a week job) so far this year.

Then my Uncle Rick (in VA) was informed his cancer, which we all thought was beaten back last November, has come back with a vengeance. His doctors have told him to get his affairs in order, quickly. Care has been shifted to palliative. My family is a free wheeling and loving bunch, and my Aunt and cousin are taking this really hard (as would be expected). It's also given me cause to assess; there are four male relatives in my family (two from either side of the linage) who have contracted cancer. Is there a ticking time-bomb cell lurking somewhere in my flesh, counting down?

Our family has been fortunate in that - other than my grandparents/Mom's parents - my mother's family has remained intact all these years. Only one of my Uncles and I have lost a spouse, and my family was not really connected to Peter when I lost him. I have never been sure they understood just how horrible an experience I had, although in the case of my Uncle, when his wife passed in 2000, it was easier for them to comprehend. After all, he has 3 beautiful daughters and the marriage took place 20 plus years prior. All of us in the family knew that he and my Aunt had a loving relationship, and came to his side in the moments he and the girls needed us. (And it should be noted, the Gallagher family has been completely taken by my partner Joel.)  So getting the news of my Uncle's resurgent cancer has shaken us all.

There are letters to write and notes to be passed. He has given my Aunt and his son a very, very good life and provided for them well. My job and financial fears pale in comparison