Anyway—it was shortly after I posted my bat-blog that I got some bad news which prompted me to take it back down. A former coworker who has been more like a big brother to me over the years (his name is Steve, I’ve written about him here) is sick with covid, enough to be taken to the hospital. What made it even worse, his wife Cindy is sick with Covid too.
I’m positive they’ll pull through, I suppose what made it so worrisome was that another former coworker, Ed Mills, had just retired in December—then got covid and died from it in a matter of days. He was 64 and hadn’t been retired a whole month. We weren’t friends, but that makes no difference.
A little later on I learned we lost 2 residents in my building. Joe (who lived in a studio apartment on my floor) passed the night before; he was a small trim man and only 66 years old. He liked to talk about his 40 years as a cable guy (whew the stories!) and that he had bad feet now, but a good pension. I wouldn’t say we were friends, but when you see & talk to someone a couple times a week…
And Betty, who suffered a stroke on Inauguration Day (and laid on the floor by her bed the entire day before anyone suspected something was wrong). She hasn’t died (yet) but her family cleared out her apartment this past weekend.
I’ve written about her before on my blog, we did NOT get along; she was a very outspoken Trumper who questioned my heterosexuality because I never married and liked to cook and didn’t watch football. I’ll say one thing for Betty, she changed any preconceived notions I had of how 80-something people are supposed to think or act.
Little old lady my foot, she was more like a little old land-mine. Oh Betty… I don’t know what to say.
Anyway, things just got very heavy on Tuesday, and it all seemed to come at once.
The good news is, Steve & Cindy are back home recuperating. Maybe I’ll put Tuesday’s Batman blog back up when no one is looking, and hope for more good news soon.
That's too bad that so many of your friends and acquaintances have died or are not doing well. Prayers for all.
ReplyDeleteThanks Gigi, yes just been a heavy week. Hope you're doing good.
DeleteA heavy week indeed. I'm very sorry. I'm there with you, Doug, although with other issues besides Covid. (for now anyway) In my experience some little old ladies lose any filters they used to have and feel like (due to their age), they can be blunt/rude. My mother is getting a little like that. I love her but do NOT want to get on her bad side.
ReplyDeleteThank you Margaret, I know you have a lot on your plate right now. I think I just get overwhelmed with bad news sometimes and kind of shut myself off from the world. Anyway, yes I'm learning some people do lose their filters as they age, I look forward to losing mine ;)
DeleteI have a lot of people that I think about from time to time. Most were not someone I would call a friend but they were all acquaintances whose lives were cut short for some reason or another. I have come to think of them as reminders to not waste much of my life in case I get cut down short.
ReplyDeleteI've been pondering what your post was about that has been in my reading list for two days but didn't exist when I clicked on the link. A comparison of batman to Qanon certainly wasn't a subject that I contemplated. I do hope you post it again sometime.
Thanks Ed, it was just silliness on my part (which embarrassed me after getting all the serious news). I'll repost it, but really it's nonsense. Anyway, I like that category of people you talk about, yes I know just what you mean...
DeleteLike Ed, your post no longer existed when I tried to read it but I understand your taking it down after all the sad news. I am glad some to the news is improving. I understand your conflict about Betty. Sad what happened to her but she was never your friend and yet you are just too nice a guy to take pleasure in her pain. Probably how I would feel if something ugly happened to 45.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to batman.
Patti, thank you. You always say just the right things. And I'm glad you understand why I did that, maybe if I stopped posting nonsense I wouldn't feel obligated to take it down, haha. Anyway, I always feel like you get me... thanks again.
DeleteI did read your batman post... and was going to go back and comment on it, (sometimes I tend to read all the posts before commenting) but when I went back, it was gone. I'm not sure what I would have commented anyway as I've never been into super-heros (although my little grand daughter is 7 and has always loved Spiderman). I did have a thing for Roy Rogers when I was very young - maybe that's the same thing (just another generation). So sorry to hear about all the bad news. It does make you realize how things can change in the blink of an eye...
ReplyDeleteThank you Rian, very nice of you to say--and I really liked the Roy Rogers comparison, yep that's it alright, haha. I'll definitely have to put it back up :)
DeleteReality check indeed. It's one thing to hear about COVID infections in the news but quite another when it happens to acquaintances! A very strong reminder of how we need to put our differences aside and be kind or at least tolerant to each other. I'm sure you are glad you were always good natured to poor Betty. Looking forward to your repost of the Batman and Qanon comparison.
ReplyDeleteThanks Florence (and you're certainly right about the covid striking close to home). The Batman post, I assure you you're not missing much :)
DeleteSo sorry to hear the Reality Check was such a weighty one, a LOT and all at once! The more people we know who contract this... and Die from this... all the more Real it is as it touches more lives daily and leaves such loss and vulnerability in it's wake. I do think we need levity to counterbalance the seriousness of it all, I'll look forward to your lighthearted Post when you're ready to tuck it in here.
ReplyDeleteBohemenian, you're very kind, thank you. Much appreciated. :)
DeleteSo many sad happenings; Covid; a stroke with no one to help for a whole day!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear about the recovering couple, but poor Betty now faces life in a nursing home if she recovers enough. The world needs more feisty people like her. They get everyone else thinking.
Thanks River... while I wasn't really fond of Betty, I would hate the idea of losing my own independence...
DeleteI'm glad to hear your friends are out of the hospital and wish them well. I so enjoy your posts, but I missed the Batman one. I hope I can get a vaccine shot sometime in the near future. So far, I can't even get on a waiting list!
ReplyDeleteThank you DJan, much appreciated (and I did restore that Batman post this morning). I have to say I'm pretty shocked here, you can't even get on a waiting list?? I know how healthy you are but shouldn't you still be in the first group? I hope you let us know when you get it.
DeleteI'm sorry to hear about your friends. It really brings it home when it is someone you know. I think too many people have had the Covid Reality Check lately. It's hard to believe there are still people that don't think covid is real and still refuse to wear a mask. It's all very sad.
ReplyDeleteVery well said, thank you Bonnie.
DeleteOh gosh... You too? I’ve been going through a rough couple of months as you know. I usually have blog posts scheduled 2 weeks in advance so I took the week off making more masks, especially so I could give some to my friend who has been fighting leukemia in Illinois. After a harrowing December and January, I got scared when she didn’t answer my text a couple weeks ago. I finally called her and she’s OK, sort of.
ReplyDeleteNow I hear you’re going through the same sort of thing. Good gosh! That’s a lot of people you know who have come down with COVID or some other health threat. And you’re a young “Whipper snapper.” It’s sort of understandable at my age. Well, not really. I can’t understand it.
On more positive news, the military hospital just called and said I could come in on Tuesday and get my first shot. Woo Hoo! I wouldn’t qualify quite yet under Hawaii’s health system, but I qualify under Art’s military retiree system. I’m never thrilled about getting punctured, but this will be a relief.
Kay thanks for your comment here, but I sure am sorry to read about your friend fighting leukemia of all things... I am very much hoping you get some good news there. It seems like I wrote this "reality check" so long ago, but it was only a little over a week... my buddy Steve (and his wife) are still fighting covid, for Steve it developed into covid-pneumonia so we're still waiting & hoping. Well, his wife is my age but Steve is a few years older so my whippersnapper days are coming to an end soon! :) But Kay I am SO GLAD to hear you're getting vaccinated too, especially with this virus mutating. You gave me a chuckle with that puncture remark, you're not a balloon but I totally get it, haha! But it is good news and we need more of that for sure. :)
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