On average days we whiz through our lives, coping with the minor annoyances and dealing with the minutiae of life in the modern world. And then a day or several comes along when disaster strikes and we have multi-box days.
These are days when the occasional hug or two isn't gonna suffice. They are endless days of waiting, anxiety, insecurity, guilt, sadness, or grief. Maybe they are all of these at one time. My loved ones and I have had more than a few of these days this year. They are made all the more difficult because my family is far-flung and wide spread across the country.
Hard to hug someone who is two thousand miles away.
Harder to sit on the other end of the phone and wait. Family catastrophes are not one dimensional. Though they're most immediate to the individuals in the center of the storm, anxiety and grief ripple outward to those far away who can do nothing but wait. Very often traveling to those in distress is impossible or impractical. There's nothing to do but wait and pray.
In the past, prior to the days of instant communication, family members might not even know of such disasters until long after it was over. Today's world is vastly different with our ability to reach out and touch one another at any time of day or night. I don't know if this makes it harder or easier to cope.
All I know today is my family needs more boxes. Please send extras...
anny
Oh Anny, hang in there. Yes, sometimes it's easier not to know, or to find out when everything is over.
ReplyDelete