One of the funny things about my intermittency on b.org is my surprise at seeing people Buffistas were dating now married or engaged to them or even parenting with them. I feel like Rip Van Winkle.

ETA: But it's cool, obviously. I guess I just get shocked because so little ever happens in my lovelife it's like I'm standing still. And sometimes I can project that and then be shocked that so much has happened in 5 or 9 years in someone else's life.

Both capable of provoking nausea.

I am so gonna stop giving you the good stuff.

I love Matilda's take on the world.

I meant to offer sympathy for Laura's mother and for Wallybee. I have many family members of my heart whose troubles hurt me far more than my blood relatives.

My few relatives are in a dreadful state, and we just got a blow today. My mother is the youngest of five, and her nephew, the son of one of her brothers, is only 8 years younger than she is and was raised by my grandparents, so to her he's like a little brother. He and his wife live in the Atlanta area, but I don't see them often, mostly because he gets all his "information" from talk radio and she is difficult to be around.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. I put on my nice person disguise and have called her several times to talk about what chemo is like and what to ask for and I put together some stuff I found helpful, like ginger candy.

Then on Friday, my cousin essentially collapsed. He had apparently been feeling bad for several weeks, but didn't want to say anything because of what was going on with his wife. He was put into the hospital for tests and I went to see him over the weekend, but he was almost completely out of it, shivering, moaning and nodding off every few minutes. Today they got back one of the test results and he has lung cancer.

My mother is not taking it well.

Fuck cancer.

Oh, god, Ginger. Fucking fuck cancer, that fucker.

So many brackets to your family, Ginger. The Universe needs to take one hell of a large step backwards. Fuck cancer, indeed.

I am so gonna stop giving you the good stuff.

Noooo! I thought you were proud of your nausea-inducing links!

I'm sorry, Ginger.

I am so gonna stop giving you the good stuff.

Wait, that was the good stuff? What have you been holding back?

One of the hardest parts is that because his wife is taking chemo, she can't go to the hospital. She does have quite a few local relatives who are taking care of things. There's not going to be a lot I can do, since her relatives view me as a know-it-all and possibly Communist, but I know they do love my cousin.

Aw, crud, Ginger. Fuck cancer, and so much ~ma for your cousin, his wife, and your whole family.

Oh Ginger! I'm so, so sorry.