posted 2005/08/28 at 19:37
My paternal grandmother (my only living grandparent) broke her arm recently, and it's kind of been up to her sons to help take care of her. Her condition isn't getting much better, mainly because when her husband died a few years ago, she never really found a reason to keep living.
It's kind of been up to her three living sons (she lost one -- my Uncle Sanford -- to a heart attack a couple of years ago) to take care of her, although owing to things with the family business, right now my Mom is up with her at the family vacation house in northern Michigan tending to her needs. This led to an interesting situation, as everyone else went up to the house for the weekend, leaving me home alone for yesterday and most of today. (Unfortunately, with all of my close friends living in the Dayton/Cincinnati area, and gas prices being what they are, it wasn't like I could have some wild party in the absence of other family members here.)
Ever since the family business moved into the house last year, it's been rare for me to have the house to myself for even an hour a month, but being alone here for over twenty-four hours wasn't quite as fun as I would have thought. Taking care of all the chores I normally don't take care of wasn't so much of a problem, but just being alone in this big house was a bit disconcerting. When I had to leave the house last night to go to the store, I got really worried just because we never leave this house unattended.
Knowing how I seem to rise to the occasion in the event of an emergency, if I were suddenly forced to fend for myself, I think I'd do okay, but the thought of living on my own is still kind of scary. I guess that's one of the reasons I've been thinking a lot about companionship lately. Not like I need more of a reason to have a partner than all the usual issues (including a near-maddening level of sexual frustration at this point), but as much of a loner as I tend to be, the thought of being truly alone like that literally gives me the chills.
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon