A Writer's Notebook, Day One-Thousand-One-Hundred-And-Ninety

Melissa and I are getting ready to go back to Ohio again.  We bought tickets to fly up on Saturday and are spending about a week.  Melissa has been very worried about her mother, concerned that her condition is declining and she might not be around that much longer.  It doesn't seem as if their is any drastic change right now, or that they expect anything in the immediate future, but things have been progressing, and she is slowly creeping towards the inevitable.  Ann can't, for example, hold things very well any longer, and has a great deal of difficulty with tasks like feeding herself, which she was able to do more independently until recently.  The nurses tell us she is still alert and interacts with them, but they acknowledge the trajectory as well.  It is clear we need to be spending more time there, though it is not so easy to do and is taxing on both Melissa and I in different ways.  So, we are going to head up this weekend.  I wish that I felt Melissa's family at least appreciated what she is going through, or maybe offered a bit of support, but it is clear that they aren't capable of that.  I do the best I can to be there for her, but it would mean a great deal if we had others we felt we could rely on for advice and emotional support.

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