Another tragedy strikes my family just as suddenly as my parents finally make it home to Va. Beach. Whereas this past weekend we celebrated my Mom & Dad making it home and my father surviving his ordeal, I just got word from my eldest sister that my grandmother had a stroke and probably won’t make it. The family that is down in the Hampton Roads area is deciding what to do now – whether or not to maintain her on life support with the faintest hope that she’ll pull through or to let her pass.

It is funny, in a cruel, sadistic way, how timing works in this enitre scenario. When Angela and I were home this past weekend it dawned on me that we should probably visit grandma and say ‘hello’. Unfortunately, it wasn’t until we were already numerous miles outside of Norfolk. I even remembered that I wanted to bring Angela to see my Grandpa at his gravesite. That too seemed to have been an afterthought. I said, ‘Oh, we can visit the next time we’re down here’ thinking that I might have another month or two. Now I feel ashamed of myself and very distraught over it all.

People like to complain that life isn’t fair. Guess what? Death isn’t fair either. My grandmother most probably won’t make it through the night and will be buried next to my grandfather later in the week. And I may have missed my chance to both say ‘hello’ and ‘good-bye’.

If you don’t hear from me for a while, you’ll know why.