Necessary Mutilation

Weight: 253 lbs.

Today is a sobering reminder that weight isn’t everything and that the universe is made up of so much more than what I eat for dinner.

Tonight we had plans to celebrate my friend Janet’s 47th birthday. She and other longtime friend, Debbie, were due over for a dinner out and a relaxing evening.

Unfortunately, Janet called early this morning to say that she had to cancel, as her sister, Sally, has taken a turn for the worse with her multi-year battle with cancer, and is now struggling with sustaining herself in even the most basic of ways. Janet and her siblings and Sally’s friends have been providing her in-home care and support, but as she is deteriorating, the question has now arisen as to whether she can remain at home any longer. Until very recently she had a good appetite despite her physical deterioration, but apparently is now no longer interested in food and has begun to vomit. She appears to have entered that inward place where people go shortly before passing, and is no longer communicative or able to walk or follow some directions. I know that shortly before my mother passed away some years ago, she  turned inward as if preparing for the ultimate detachment from everything and everyone.

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