Another death

My beloved daughter-in-law has had such a rough time with her family for the last few years. She's lost both her grandmothers. Last night, her father died of cancer. It came quickly, as such things go. But I know it will devastate her. She had a somewhat turbulent relationship with him when she and my son first married. He and her mother had been divorced for years, and he was the type to put himself first, but as time mellowed them, they developed a strong and loving relationship. It is going to be hard on my son, too. He relies on his wife to support him financially, but she relies on him to support her emotionally. Fair trade.

I never cared much for the step-mother, but she seemed to be good to my son and daughter-in-law, and I know they felt (and will probably still feel) really close to her and to her daughter.

To make matters even worse, Heather's step-father has Alzheimer's and is confined to a nursing home. There have been, in addition to the many illnesses and deaths from illness, two suicides in Heather's family. An uncle and a cousin, I think. It must be hard to face the day, especially since the weather has been so horrendously nasty lately.

I wish I could feel cheerful for some reason today, but it's below freezing outside (windchill), and I discovered that the area where the skylight is in my bathroom is crumbling and has black mold on it. Expensive home repairs are not uncommon for Michigan, especially because the winters are so harsh, but I know there isn't much we can do to fix this issue until the weather is better.

I need some of Ellie's lemons to cheer me up. To taste so sour, yet (under the right conditions) to release such a wonderful flavor and scent--well, life needs to be a bit more like a lemon.