Tsoris.

Well - my Thanksgiving didn't work out as planned Darling's - did yours?

Everything was going grate guns a fire.  The meal was good.  So was the company.  And the dogs were on their best behavior.

Then I got an email from a distant cousin from back home that sent me directly to the ICU unit of Riverside Methodist Hospital. No joke.

Apparently, the daughter of another mutual relative/neighbor from my mother's childhood had what the doctors called an "episode" back home and collapsed.  Her heart stopped pumping for 11 minutes before they got it going against, and by that time, it was pretty hopeless.

So we did what people from back home do - we stood by the family, because you never leave your friends in a time of need.

It was a very long two days and nights, but Pam was removed from the ventilator yesterday and died this morning. 

Now I stand by with Pam's mother - a woman of amazing misfortune and strength. She lost a sister in a tragic car accident that left her other sister paralyzed from the neck down. Then both of her parents lost their battles with the infirmities of old age after tending to their paralyzed daughter for the remainder of their lives. Then that sister died. Then her son - born profoundly retarded after his mother was exposed to measles in the first tri-mester.  He husband passed, and now this - losing your last living child who was only 54.  My cousin has seen everything and everyone wiped from the earth. 

I don't understand sometimes why God does these things.  Why weigh a person down with all of this?

And now I'm giving the eulogy.  Pam's mother seems grateful that I have accepted the job, which I undertake with love and gratitude.  To say kind things about Pam is an honor, because she was a kind person with a gentle heart and a gentle soul.

Gives new meaning to Thanksgiving; I am thankful I was able to support their family in their time of need.