Bestest Friend and I are in the middle of a blog project. Each day of
the month we will post a picture on a pre-determined theme and write a
little something about it. The theme for the twenty-fifth day of each month is "Courage."
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Theirs was a solid Catholic family: mom, dad, two boys who were the oldest, and three little girls. Catholic grade school, Catholic colleges for all the kids.But the cracks started to show.
The family arguments were legendary. The oldest brother would declare "you are dead to me" to one his siblings and the silent treatment would last for months.
The mother got sick. The youngest daughter left her job and her husband for months to be with her at the end. And then the arguments started. The youngest daughter fought her father about her mother's last wishes. She wanted more say in medical treatments. When the mother died, it was in a room where her husband and daughter were in the middle of a screaming match.
The father never spoke to his youngest daughter again and within six months, his own illness quickly taking him away from the family. None of the other siblings will talk to the youngest daughter.
She calls me, crying. She is orphaned, her brothers and sisters won't talk to her, and while she loves her husband, he's gone a lot. She's sad, she's lonely, she's afraid that her disrespect of her father will follow her into the afterlife.
She calls me, tells me that she has called her siblings. She has reached out, she has done her best, but they won't talk to her. She's crying.
There's nothing left to say.
She's very brave, I think. And she feels very alone.
Someday I hope she finds a family to replace the one that has abandoned her. Family is not always shared DNA, but shared experiences and shared love. I hope she finds peace. I hope she finds comfort from her husband, her friends, and her church.
There's nothing left to say.
She's very brave, I think. And she feels very alone.
Someday I hope she finds a family to replace the one that has abandoned her. Family is not always shared DNA, but shared experiences and shared love. I hope she finds peace. I hope she finds comfort from her husband, her friends, and her church.
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To see what Bestest Friend wrote about the theme of the day, check out her blog, Too Legit to Quit.
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