jtnt://life/unedited

Three French Hens

Got a call from my dad last night. He laid down some pretty serious shit.

The first thing, that he has some weird pain in his leg is relatively small, is hopefully nothing to worry about. It's a little more worrisome than a normal leg pain someone might have given that ten years ago he stuck a sickle into his lower-leg, between the two bones, nicking an artery. They didn't discover the nicked artery party until after he had spent a week in dire pain. This also happened to be the morning after I attended the prom with my girlfriend who was still in high school while I was not. But frankly, that's a different story - but there is a story there.

The second thing, that he and my mother were driving to Georgia tonight to back my aunt up while she told her deadbeat, abusive husband she wanted a divorce - and this time was actually serving papers - was a bit more shocking. Apparently, she had brought divorce up before but he had threatened her and their two sons in any number of ways.

I don't really have much to say about this, since I was never really close to my aunt or her family - aside from Thanksgivings and Christmas at my grandparents' house. I think about it more from my father's point of view - that this is all happening to his sister. Then I turn it on myself and know that I would be doing the exact same thing if Cay or Leigh needed me like this. It's strangely comforthing in that it reaffirms my connection to my sisters.

The third thing was that a lump was found in my grandmother's throat. She's had a cigarette in her hand for probably close to 60 years, so that's not entirely surprising. A week after the first lump was spotted, a second one showed up. They're waiting on test results to see if they are malignant, but regardless they will have to be surgically removed. If they aren't, they will continue to grow and suffocate her. That's not pretty. And major surgery, which I would assume this would be, is always dicey with someone who is over 80 years old.

All this makes me think about things I wouldn't have normally. I like that.