one month and counting

 Today is the 6th day of the 30th week, the 25th day of the 7th month, th 208th day of 2024, and:

• Culinarians Day
• Feast of Saint James - AKA James the "Greater" to distinguish him from the other apostle named James and the first of the apostles to be martyred and the patron saint of Spain 
• Health and Happiness with Hypnosis Day - I am old enough to remember when hypnosis was something of a fad that could make you stop smoking, or stop craving carbs, or remember past lives, or change an introvert into an extrovert... 
• International Afro-descendent Women's Day - recognizing the worldwide communities formed as a result of the African diaspora.  Would've been really cool if it referred to the fact that all of us are anthropologically speaking, descended from just four women out of Africa, but not that diaspora...
• International Red Shoe Day - celebrated since 2013, remembers and celebrates all those who have passed away from Lyme disease and other "invisible diseases" such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.  Personal note:  Frank always told me that ladies of the night who wore red shoes were advertising that they give blow jobs, but I never heard that anywhere else.  
• Lumberjack Day - one site says this is celebrated on the last Friday of July, another says it is celebrated in September 
• National Carousel [or Merry-go-round] Day
• National Get Gnarly Day - if you aren't a surfer or skateboarder, just try to do something you haven't attempted before.  Or just use it as slang to mean either "excellent" or "disgusting" - context matters 
• National Hire a Veteran Day
• National Hot Fudge Sundae Day - found out that Sonic does sell sundaes, so there's that.  I still miss the ice cream stores like Friendly's or Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour that used to be in the malls 
• National Talk in an Elevator Day - at the Enclave it was a constant surprise to me that people would get in the elevator, with their phone on speaker, and just keep chatting away very loudly 
• National Wine and Cheese Day
• System Administrator Day
• Thread the Needle Day -  I always used to disdain those needle threaders, but as I get older, I am finding this activity more and more difficult 
• World Drowning Prevention Day
• the new moon was yesterday at 3:11 PM EDT - today it is waning crescent at 1% of full
• and Voyager 1 is ~23h 09m 55s of light travel time from Earth

Quote of the day:

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death."

~ Robert Fulghum - American author and Unitarian Universalist minister 

Picture of the day:

Twelve Years of Kappa Cygnids
Image Credit & Copyright: Petr Horálek,
Josef Kujal, Tomáš Slovinský
Acknowledgement: Mahdi Zamani
Explanation: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250725.html

The Tribe [that is what we started calling the group of myself, my daughter, Tommy, Bryan and Chris] is working on staying busy and distracted...  The demands for documentation are being pressed upon us.  I haven't gotten to figuring out how to open an estate in Nashville through the probate court, since there is no will.  I do finally have a snapshot copy of the death certificate, but not an actual copy.  It was difficult emotionally for Bryan to get that to me, Chris and Bryan both are struggling a bit.  

Oddly, despite the fact that I am writing about my grieving process, I am not talking about it much at all.  Tommy's godmother called on Sunday and left a message; I have yet to call her back because I don't know what to say - she hasn't been in touch with any for a couple of years and I haven't seen her since 2016.  A pastor from church called last week and I didn't answer that call either - he was offering to put me in touch with folks who had lost their son so I could talk and pray with them.  

I'm just not ready to talk to verbalize yet.  My daughter is very worried about this, telling me I must take care of myself during this time [which is undeniably true].  Neither she nor Tommy were comfortable with the way I processed Frank's death, although I have never quite ascertained why.  Of course such a life event changes one afterall, and no one processes loss and gets to acceptance of the changes in the same way

2025 has been a rough year, I will say that.  While still trying to settle into a new place, my job was altered significantly, and now I have lost my son.  I'm am just worn out and cannot seem to get enough sleep to keep me from feeling tired.

One day at a time.

Sometimes one hour at a time.

It won't always be like this....