Where the hell have you been?

It is currently 21:44 military time. That’s 9:44pm for people that never quite figured out 24:00 time. I am actively trying to get back in the habit of using military time as by this time next week I will be back to my current career that pays the bills.

I’m quite sure that begs the question if you haven’t been at work, then where the hell have you been. I believe that I am now in a place where I can fully tell my story without the tears that have been threating to come down my face for the past month.

You see I have walked though one tragedy after another since November 2nd 2024. Now wait a minute Terri it’s April 26th 2025. Yes it is and I want to say my life is starting to feel normal but i’m just going to be honest, its a new normal for me.

You see back on November 2nd 2024, I lost a great friend, more like a sister to advanced liver cancer that wasn’t found until it was too late. She died a few weeks short of her 48th birthday which is the date her funeral was held.

Not even 12 hours later the life of my significant other, my love was nearly taken in a hit and run accident. Thankfully he escaped with just a 10 inch gash on his leg but he still could have bled out but he’s still here and I am forever grateful to the angels looking out for him.

I muddled my way through those trying times, not realizing that there was more to come. My sister who was bedridden yet trying to care for our mother who has Alzheimer’s disease was hospitialized with a serious infection in an open wound in her leg the day after I turned fifty years old.

I took a week off work with no pay to care for my mom, while my sister was in the hospital. She was released on New Years Eve 2024 only to be sent back one month later for the exact same issue. This time she would be in the hospital from February 2nd to March 3rd 2025. Again I took off the time to care for our mother.

When my sister was released from the hospital it was with the understanding that this would be a temporary situation until they found a rehab facility she could go to in order to get the care she needed.

What I didn’t know at the time is that it truly would be a temporary situation that would result in my sister’s death. You see, on March 19th 2025 I was with my sister when she went to her doctor’s office. She left straight from there directly across the way to the hospital. Yet again she had another serious infection and ultimately it took her life.

My sister died on March 24th 2025 at 12:44pm at the age of fifty nine. My heart shattered into pieces yet I managed to carry on, push away the tears and the pain I still feel to give her the memorial service that she deserved.

Just when you think I have had more than my fair share of pain, I soon had to make a decision that I thought would bring me to my knees.

You see as I have previously stated my mother has Alzheimer’s disease. She is in stage 6 of the 7 stages of the disease which means she cannot live alone. My remaining sibling which I will not mention beyond this line is of no help. Let me be clear, its not that he cannot help, he just refuses. Therefore I had to place my mother in a nursing facility.

So yesterday, exactly one month and one day since my sister passed away I took my mother to her new home. Which is closer to the city in which I live but its not the home that she and my dad raised their kids in. So there it is, that’s where i’ve been.

I’ve been holding onto my last name Hope. I’ve been holding onto my faith. I’ve been propping myself up emotionally on sheer will and prayer.

Next week I return back to work and see how things develop with my new normal.

Yall be kind to each other and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast and this newsletter.

I promise good news and shenanigans next week!

Sincerely,

Your Favorite Big Cousin

Terri Lynne