The hard times

There's a picture on our lounge room wall. A big group shot of about 20 people. It was taken at Easter about 5 years ago. Two people in that photo are now dead. Another has turned their back on the group that once welcomed them. Another story for another day, perhaps.

One of those people is Sam. The other is a friend of my mother-in-law, who passed away before her time due to a freak accident. She was only 59.
We went to her funeral yesterday. It was nice I guess, as much as a funeral can be. A fitting tribute to a lovely lady.

I was very proud of Oliver, who made the decision to go along to the funeral despite his feelings about death. He handled himself very well and seemed to take it all in his stride, which is good I guess.

When things were good for us, I used to look at magazines like 'That's Life' and 'Take 5' and wonder how individuals, or families could be surrounded by so much tragedy. I thanked my (whoevers) that those horrible things weren't happening to me.

Because they do seem to happen in clusters, don't they? Not that I'm saying that my life is completely tragic or anything like that, but it does seem that bad things happen in groups, rather than on their own.

Or perhaps it's my perception? I know I shouldn't overlook all the good things that have happened in the last 18 months, but it does seem that our family's had its share of crappiness.

Well, they say that when you're at the bottom the only way is up, and I have to believe that because I'm that optimistic person. There are still issues looming that have many people worried. But I'm hoping we'll all get through those...