Jan. 6th

'Looks like I picked a bad time to stop drinking' my friend texted me today. I thought, what? I texted back: Aren't we winning in Georgia? She told me to turn on the radio. I went to Twitter instead & what I found there wasn't pretty. Domestic terrorists storming the Capitol. Shots fired. One fatality as of this afternoon. This is what trump meant when he told the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by'. Mask-less insurgents swarming to D.C. to wreak havoc. At least they'll be easier to ID by the Feds as they opted not to cover their faces while breaking the law. Morons. 

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I may have mentioned in a previous post that a dear friend, M., was diagnosed with cancer this past autumn. After multiple recent stays in the hospital, her prognosis is now terminal. M. entered into hospice care last week. I was fortunate enough to be able to visit with her this past Monday. I sat on the sofa a good distance away from M. with mask up. M.'s ability to speak was hampered by her difficulty in breathing. I was told by M.'s sister who was there to help with M.'s care that I should expect to do most of the talking. I chatted up a storm, but would have been happy to just sit with her in silence. I really wished I could have held her hand, but Covid-19 prevented that. I told her that I loved her. She told me that she loved me, too. Then she needed her husband to administer her pain meds and I asked if it were time for me to leave. She said that it was. We left things open-ended regarding another visit. Gesturing in the direction of her husband, I told her I'd check in with the Chairman of the Board regarding the possibility of another visit (my attempt at being funny). She told me to check with her Press Secretary (aka her husband--her better attempt at being funny). 

Her husband walked me to the door and I thanked him for letting me visit. We both choked up at bit at that point. I also told him to, please, take good care of himself as he looked to be not eating well. To have to deal with illness and death is challenging in the best of times, but to have to navigate these unfortunate situations with Covid-19 looming over everything just makes it all so much more difficult.