Sunday, December 1, 2019

Learning the hard way, there’s nothing more important than family

Here’s 3 of my 5 siblings:  that’s my sister Shawn and her husband Jim on the left, my sister Courtney and her husband Robert on the right, my brother Steve and his wife Ann seated.

Courtney & Robert traveled from Ohio to Pennsylvania on Saturday to spend the day with family.

It breaks my heart I wasn’t there too.  (With this awful oral splint, I’m unable to talk, unable to eat solid food, unable to crack a smile—not that I have any reason to.)

I was happy to see this, but at the same time it makes me sad too.  What makes this especially difficult is that I haven’t seen my sister Courtney in 19 years, since our Dad’s funeral in 2001.  Until a year or so ago she’s lived in Florida and…. oh, it’s a long story, as most family stories are.  Suffice it to say, it just would’ve been really nice to see everyone today, together again.  

I read recently that 5-10% of the population wrestles with temporomandibular jaw disorder; if that’s true, why do I feel so damn alone with this?  Still, if you google ‘TMJ Reddit’  there sure seems to be a lot of people out there with this issue…

I also read that for 80% of TMJD sufferers, the condition often goes away within 18 months; tomorrow’s my one year anniversary with it, I sure am hoping it’s true & I’m in that 80 percent.

Anyway—I didn’t mean for this to be a big self-pity party.  I’m just missing a lot of people, places & things right now, namely this group above.   I love & miss you all, and hope I’m well enough to see you all again soon.

tpsymbol