Reflection Sunday

It was a lovely day here in Albuquerque....(Bing images)

~This past week my ex-husband was swept off of a ladder while trimming a tree.  He broke 7 ribs, and fractured vertebrae, and underwent 4 hours of surgery whereby the surgeon informed the family that he nearly severed his spinal column.  Luckily he is not paralyzed as is a good friend of one of the dentists I work with, while doing the same.  Please do not trim the tall trees yourself, and hire a professional.  I wonder how many people are seriously injured while trying to save a few bucks.  

~Today my sister called to let me know that Mom is in the hospital again.  This time the diagnosis is both dementia and congestive heart failure.  She will apparently be in the hospital about a week, but the breathing treatments are already helping, and her oxygen levels have risen to near normal levels.  I mentioned to her that low oxygen levels will seriously impair cognitive function, and although I am willing to concede that she may have dementia, her health issue isn't really helping.  Again, I feel guilty that I am too far away to help.  

~I am not unfamiliar with trying to save money, as Romeo is still on unemployment.  He's been on 5 (or is it 6?) interviews that unfortunately didn't go anywhere.  There is still a possibility of one position in Santa Fe, but it has been almost 2 weeks, and he hasn't heard anything.  Again I proposed that he should check into teaching, and this time I managed to convince him that he truly has much to offer.  As he has 2 masters degrees (and MBA and a Masters in Microbiology), all he really lacks at this point is a teaching certificate, and we are hoping that the promise of money to pay for education (through the unemployment office) will work for us.  If he can at least get it started, we can probably (?) manage from there.  The main issue with teaching is the time of year ~ we must expect that he may not have a full time position until the fall.  I have no idea how often he might be called to substitute teach.  

~At the same time, my studies are making me painfully aware of how priviledged a life we lead regardless of Romeo's unemployment status.  I mentioned to my sister today that although we are getting by, I am still pulling $$ out of the stash I set aside when he was laid off.  I estimate that it will last a few more months, and then things will really get interesting.  But, I've wandered from my previously mention privilege where we know that we have plenty to eat in our house, and a wonderful house to live in (altho it's not yet paid for), and that we have two cars that are paid for.  This is in stark contrast to families that wonder what they will be eating tomorrow.  The topic in class tomorrow is food disparities, or food insecurities, which has replaced "hunger" in the educational literature.   Romeo and I talked for a bit about the public and social network shaming that goes on when someone who isn't on food assistance sees someone who is, buy a steak, or a bottle of wine, or some other "luxury" item that they can't afford themselves.   I think we all agree that there are abuses of the system, but we shouldn't be assuming that the lady with the steak and bottle of wine in her basket is doing so.....perhaps she is planning to prepare an anniversary dinner, because they can't afford to go to a nice restaurant and don't wish to go to Denny's.  And who could blame her for that?  I don't know the answer, but I think we all need to let the "powers that be" work on routing out the abusers and let people be.  I would be murderously furious if I were on the receiving end of that kind of dialogue.

And on that happy note, I shall sign off.  Have a wonderful week!

Love, 365