Life is so strange

 So many things are happening in my life, my friends lives and the world.  

A friend died last month.  I had a dream and she was in it.  Not sure where we were, but she walked into the room and said to me "Nancy you look like you've seen a ghost"!   Well, of course, she's dead.

Three more friends are sick. One friend, who is 96, is feeling fed up and is ready to be done.  She cannot swallow very well, so all of her food has to be pureed.  She told me that she is incontinent.    She is in assisted living but wants to move to hospice so she can get the care she needs.

Another friend who is my age has a terminal form of cancer, but is involved in drug studies that she hopes will prolong her life.  She is very cheerful and upbeat about it all.

And a third friend is a woman about the same age as my daughter.  She has four children,  Two older kids  and two little girls around 6&8.  She has been in the hospital for about 3 months.  She is very sick.  Her husband says that there's nothing more that the hospital can do, so she is going home.   She has lost the use of her legs because of nerve damage.  Not sure what it's all about though.    Maybe I can go visit her.

My own path to motherhood started 44 years ago on February 25, 1978.   Yes, my daughter just turned 44.   I am not sure if I feel old having a child that age, or just amazed and stunned and in wonder.   The big "bump" inside me that I held my hand on for months.  Kicking me and making my stomach move.  The wonder that there was a life inside of my body.  And now she is grown and independent and lives thousands of miles away.   Of course the same sense of marvel attended all of my pregnancies', but she was the first.  The one who transformed us into parent.  A role of a lifetime and a life long role.

War is taking place in Europe.  Russia invaded Ukraine this week.    There are bombs and buildings being blown up.  And people seeking refuge and also dying.   A woman gave birth in an underground subway station/ bomb shelter.  It reminds me of the stories of the Norwegian "tunnelbarn". The babies born in the tunnels in Norway that were built as shelters.

Why is this happening? How ironic it is that many people are seeking refuge in Poland a country that was dominated not that long ago by the same people that the Ukrainians are trying to escape from.

Is this going to be the third world war? Is it a new Cold War? Will it go on for years, or will it be short lived?

Meanwhile a group of truck drivers are planning to descend on Washington, DC to protest against Covid vaccine mandates.

I could say what is the world coming to. That's what we say when things are not the way it is "supposed to be". But I don't know how it is really supposed to be.

I just wish for peace and health and all that liberal stuff. Yes I do.

I remember this poster from the days of Vietnam war protests: