ION, I’m giving my phone the stink I willing it not to ring with another cancellation alert. It sounds like several houses in town are without electricity.

No school again tomorrow because of downed power lines.

I'm not ready to be the matriarch!!

After my oldest aunt died in October 2019, we had Thanksgiving with that side of the family. I have 3 cousins: 1 guy and 2 women. So halfway through Thanksgiving dinner, my 2 female cousins are tipsy and start bantering/arguing about who's the matriarch now that their mom died. Only the thing is, they all used to own horses for decades, so the argument my cousins were having was about who would be the "boss mare." I laughed my ass off at them. (I also don't know if they ever decided who was the boss mare.)

Only the thing is, they all used to own horses for decades, so the argument my cousins were having was about who would be the "boss mare."

Ha!

To be clear, my mother is fine, so I probably have a lot of time, but I am the oldest of my generation on that side.

I am the oldest of my generation on that side.

Boss mare!

Sorry about the stress, shrift. But I’m glad you’re still employed at the end of it.

My last grandparent died when I was in high school. All of them lived into their 70s and 80s, but my folks had me fairly late. My classmates were raised by boomers, while I was raised by the previous cohort. Now I just have one remaining aunt from my parents’ generation left.

Glad you are still employed, shrift! It's rough out there.

Very glad you’re still employed, shrift, but still. Do you have a team or other cohort? How are y’all doing?

I’ve been sleeping some infinite amount of time and I feel so much better I can’t even say.

I was lucky enough to know all my grandparents, but the last one died when I was in my teens. My siblings have fewer if any memories.

One of the reasons I’ve been so grateful to have reconnected with my half siblings is that it was starting to feel like we were very alone in the world, family wise. Knowing them makes me feel less unmoored, even while it also brings home how isolated we really were growing up. We had and have wonderful chosen family, but not the networks of aunts and uncles and cousins and all that so many have.

Do you have a team or other cohort? How are y’all doing?

My team is intact, but I'm only starting to find out who all is gone, so it's been chaotic. I mean, I woke up Friday morning and checked my work calendar to see a last-minute meeting with a description that had me scrolling through my email to find out if another colleague had died, or if it was layoffs like everyone had been worried about. And then I got to get out of bed and login to work to see if I still had a job. Fun times!

The general sentiment in my cohort is that we're feeling demoralized and experiencing some survivor's guilt.

Yay for sleep!