This is normally our slow time of year at work. With the unpredictable weather conditions this year, it’s been more Chaos Country than Silent Night. And then were the wholly-unexpected complications.
My boss is an amazing woman. She’s the glue holding this company together, in tangible and intangible ways.
Sadly, her husband passed away a week before Christmas, not quite a year after a double lung transplant. It’s been a prolonged and excruciatingly difficult road for her and her family. Because she understandably took time off, her job fell to me for the past three weeks, on top of my own. It was overwhelming. She’s back today and man… am I ever glad. I caught everything that came through proper channels, but some of our clients couldn’t be bothered and just emailed her, ignoring her email’s automatic “away” reply. So today’s been a crapalanche of cleaning up all the issues which could have been resolved weeks ago.
Our oldest daughter finally got moved into her own place. In mid-December, we helped her move her things from the house where she lived with her ex, to a subsidized apartment. Her ex known to pull a gun when things don’t go his way. Thankfully we were able to make a dash-and-grab trip to get as much as we could and get out, completed while he was at work. With the exception of clothes, she didn’t take anything that was bought with his money, other than a few of her youngest’s toys. (Very few, I might add – her ex pulls in six figures. but makes pre-Christmas-ghosts Scrooge look like a reckless spendthrift.)
I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the apartment is, and the complex itself. Not fancy, naturally — but decent, clean, and quiet. It’s the difference in subsidized housing in tiny towns, I guess. It’s actually one of the town’s nicer areas.
Virtually all the furnishings came from family, mostly from us.
The bookcase-cum-TV-stand in her living room has been in our family for years and undergone color changes. I got it for free nearly 20 years ago and passed it on to her (at her request) several years ago. It’s the most rock-solid bookcase I’ve ever seen. We think it may originally have come from a school library. It ain’t pretty, but it does the job.
The grands are homeschooled and are special needs. They get all the books they want, funded through the educational system – and fortunately they love books. What’s shown in the bookcase is only part of their collection.
The two little faux evergreens and lamps came from my other daughter; the TV was a Facebook Marketplace deal; the coffee table and rug were garage-sale finds. (That room size rug is one we bought for $10 at a garage sale. Nearly as we can tell, it had never been used.) Neighbors gave her two more working televisions. Her boys’ dressers came from us, several years ago. They’re ugly, huge, metal monstrosities — but they’re virtually indestructible and they serve their purpose. The decor (other than the family photos) came from us and from her sister (our youngest daughter.)
Beds were partly from us and partly community donations.
This is the opposite side of the living room. Everything shown here came from us, with the exception of the kids’ photos and the sofa. The sofa was a FB Marketplace find, courtesy of our youngest son (daughter’s little brother). The rocking chair was one our neighbors gave to us. It arrived with paint splatters and stickers. G removed all those and polished it up before we passed it along.
We’re hoping the new place will help with her little guy’s PTSD. The unfortunate reality is they switched his meds abruptly about the same time they moved, which was an atrocious medical decision. (Doctor’s decision, not mom’s.) He’s going into a 30-day mental-health inpatient situation while they attempt to get him regulated. He’s 7 years old, and while he’s finally getting the help he needs, it’s going to take a long time to get him regulated his life of instability and abuse.
I hope everyone’s holiday season was filled with peace and joy. And that you got healthy and rich.
Yeah, I can see the news and I recognize the dichotomy between reality and the above wish. I still wish it.