For my friends and fiends, fellow DUers--I have not been around much lately

[highplainsdem]

45. I'm so sorry, Maeve. I lost my mother several years ago, after years of being her caregiver (including

a lot of time almost every day during her final months in a nursing home, because the staff there had so much trouble coping with her very rare swallowing disorder, achalasia, which some of the aides had never heard of and only one specialist in the city had any expertise with). It wasn't as sudden a loss for me, of course, but losing a parent is hard, and losing a loved one you've been a caregiver for is hard, and the combination is wrenching.

We're here for you. I'm praying your mother will be able to send you some signs to help comfort you.