I got back into Chicago last night. It is good to be back home and in my regular life with my sweet husband and comfy bed. It is great to be back at work. It's time to focus on my mental wellness, too, so I can keep going and be a support for my mother and brother.
I probably won't be able to talk about this trip for a while. It was too painful. I will say that I will have to go back down soon, and frequently over the next several months, so this is really just the beginning. However, I am happy to say that we made some major advances in mom's care and well-being, so for the first time in 2 years, I feel like we are on the right track.
I was in a constant state of prayer over the last week, and it helped. I am starting to understand more why things are happening the way they are instead of being all woe is me. Of course, I don't know if I will ever understand disease or mental illness, and I think I will always be angry and hurt that our family, that was once the most hilarious and tight-knit family that ever lived, has become the source of so much sadness and pain. I don't know if things will ever get better or easier, but we are trying our best and getting through the best we can.
Serious kudos to my mom this week. She made some great advances and hard decisions, and I am so proud of her for her courage and will to make things better for her. This week was harder on her than it was on us.
Thank you all for your prayers, emails, texts and comments. They helped a lot.
Much love to all.
Glad you're home. And it sounds like you all are working towards an answer, not just treading water. There will be a recovery period you know? Chicago is happy you're back.
I'm so glad you're back and please know you're in my prayers too! Your family is still the hilarious tight-knit family it once was--it just looks different now. If anyone can pull through hard times, it's the Reids. I'd bet all that I have on it.
Love you so much!
So glad that you got some good things done this weekend and so sorry that things are not the way they were or the way you want them to be. We've had a lot of that lately at our house as well. There is a new Stephen Curtis Chapman song that just speaks to my heart about this. The first line is, "This is not how it should be, this is not how it could be, but this is how it is, and God is in control." Keep praying and put your faith in God. We'll be praying for you too.
I wish that I had some eloquent words of comfort. I don't. But I have a whole lot of love, prayers, and continual thoughts of happy times with you and yours...I think those things must help, somewhere...I hope they do. And most of all, I hope that you take lots of care of you. Remember that there's no way to ever be there for someone else if you aren't taking care of yourself first.
I love you.