Tardy Again!

I guess paperwork, phone calls and appointments are a lot more distracting than I realized since I have ignored my blog for almost a full month - yet again. However, things seem to be calming down a bit in that arena and I feel I have little more time for thinking than before since my return from Arizona. It was good to get home, despite the aforementioned paperwork, etc., and I enjoyed being with boyfriend and cats once again. There is also a lot to be said for sleeping in your own bed again, too.

It turned out I was wrong about all of the cacti being ready to bloom in October. They had already finished that, and what I thought were buds were actually fruit, so I did not get to see the profusion of blossoms I was hoping for, but I learned a little something more about the southwest. It also looks as though I may get to return there for a few more days this month as the result of a very sad event that initially took place about twenty years ago but is still going on today.

Sometime in about 1985, our grandmother (actually our mother's step-mother) lost her way on a winding desert road and then disappeared into the desert. Her car was found but she has not yet been located. On the 21st of this month the Cochise County Sheriff's Office will be conducting another search of the area where she disappeared. They will be looking for our grandmother in addition to searching for someone else, I do not know who the other individual is, and my sister and I will likely be at the command post while the search progresses hoping they find our grandmother so we can bring her home to be buried next to our grandfather in the small desert cemetary in Pearce, Arizona where the retirement community of Sunsites is located and where our grandparents lived happily together for many years. My sister has invited me down to be there on the day the search takes place and, barring any unforeseen complications, I will be there.



It occurs to me that we actually have a rather interesting family history considering all of the disappearances, murders, and such that have taken place, not to mention the medical issues that continue to effect each of our lives while this other stuff goes on. I am not sure I would know what to do with a less eventful life at this point, although it would definitely require more in the way of creative effort on my part to write about it and try to make it interesting.

For the time being, things are stable. Mike is just Mike. The emphysema worsens a little more with each passing year and each cigarette, but he is still with us for which I am grateful. My niece and nephew are both doing well and growing up so fast and so beautifully I find it not only hard to keep up but also very difficult to not burst with pride at how handsome and how beautiful they are. My grandmother is celebrating her ninety-first birthday soon and we are all preparing for holidays that do not look like they will likely be marred by tragedy, but we never know for certain and can only hope fervently we will have much to be grateful for following the passing of the season. Most importantly there is still a lot of love, a lot of caring and concern, and a lot of joy to be had for all of us as we spend the next several weeks hoping, praying, and planning for truly happy holidays. This year we do not look too much to world events, although we are aware of them, as it is a time for our families to focus upon one another after all of the difficulties of the past. We are truly blessed and this holiday season will, I hope, bring that fact home to all of us more than ever.

May all of your holidays and gatherings be blessed as well.

Izzlebug