Sad, sadder, saddest

I'm OK (she said, knocking Formica). But so many women around me these days aren't!

Sad. Poor Nancy. Everything was going so well in her life. New job that she really likes, an appearance on Jeopardy!, her daughter accepted to the college she wanted, her son turning his life around (again/finally). We were supposed to get together this Sunday, but she wouldn't commit. Finally she told me why. Her father -- who has been successfully battling cancer -- suddenly took a turn for the worse. He's in hospice. With Father's Day coming up, this is very emotional for her and her daughter. She isn't sure it wouldn't be wiser for her to stay home Sunday. I told her by all means, do that, and to just reach out when she feels like socializing again.

Sadder. Have you ever slogged through one of those periods where everything in your life sucks? That's what's going on with Joanna. Work? That project she began in March is still going on, but she's not getting paid for her work. She knows it's her fault -- the way she wrote the contract, she could bill for 500 hours. She recently hit that 500 hour mark, but the job's not done. So she's still working on it and too busy to take another, paying job. Consequently she's really broke this month. Home? Her 14-year-old cat is losing weight and has intestinal trouble. Joanna and the vet are working together to keep her stable and comfortable, but the fact is: her cat is dying. Friends? The first friend she made when she came to Chicago in 2005 died last week. They weren't really close anymore, and so a nice patina of guilt is spread over the grief. We were supposed to get together Saturday night, but she can't make it -- too broke. (I'm secretly relieved because I'm broke this month, too.)

Saddest. I haven't heard from my friend, Barb, for a while. As May slid into June, I thought she was busy preparing their home for sale. That had been the plan: to sell their house this summer and move into their beautiful new home in Hilton Head. She's lived in her current home for more than 20 years, so there's a lot of stuff to get rid of. I know she was planning on throwing a massive yard sale and had engaged an auction house. So I interpreted her silence as busyness.

Over the past 8 weeks, both she and her husband have had significant health problems. Hers landed her in the hospital over Memorial Day weekend, and her husband has been so ill as he battles cancer that he's been moved to a rehabilitation center.

Her husband is dying. I don't believe they will ever live as a couple in that beautiful new home in Hilton Head. It's heartbreaking.

After talking to Nancy, Joanna and Barb, I'm suddenly grateful to be dull!

  
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