Timelies all!

Happy Birthday Laura!

Hugs and ~ma for all dealing with parental care issues.

In house news, we finally have a functioning sink in the kitchen. Now we need to unpack the metric buttload of boxes in the living room and basement.

I'm trying to avoid talking about it as much as I can, as actually looking at it head-on makes me want to curl up in a ball and hide for all eternity, but man. It sucks.

My heart hurts for you, and all of you dealing with family heartaches. All I can offer is virtual hair pats, martinis, hugs, or an empathetic ear as needed.

Ahahahaha. My mother just called, no doubt meaning well, to try to get me to...take my sister's side? Accept her reality? (Did I mention my mother has "mild cognitive decline"? There's that, too.) And maybe if I hadn't been on the phone with her husband when the shit hit the fan (as in, mid-conversation about next steps in trying to get her healthy when she called from the hospital saying she was checking herself out), I'd buy some of it, but I was, and I can't, and now I think my mom's mad at me, and anyhow, fuck everything.

I truly hate this so much. There is no way to solve it without making things worse or breaking relationships completely. There might as well be no way to solve it, period. My chronically ill sister also apparently doesn't have insurance now because...hell if I know. Balls, they got dropped. Probably by her. If I had the money to just hire people to untangle the clusterfuck, I would, but I am not a person with unclusterfuck money. And unclusterfuck money can't fix a broken mind.

Listen, I have a great relationship with my family* & my brother & I have been each other’s rocks (he was out there for a 4 day weekend Jan 26 when it all went south. He left Feb 13.) AND IT’S STILL SO FUCKING HARD. Throw in difficult people, and …godamn. I’m sorry.

* mom & dad both got mad at me on multiple occasions. And I definitely got exasperated. But it blew over, it always will. I described myself as turning into a stepford wife crossed with nurse ratchet to my brother & he about peed himself laughing, it was so on the nose. I don’t think he’d seen that side of me. Nor me seeing how he manages mom so much better than I. I am so much like my dad in all the ways that rub her wrong, even after 58 yrs (but she’s used to it from him.) Way too direct.

It was a strange, illuminating, painful & scary time. And it will come again. And it’s not really over. I’m still outside myself. There are Things in a box on a shelf and I’m eyeing them warily. My life basically paused for 3 weeks and existed only in a space between Doña Ana county & the hospital.

Unfortunate cross post with you, Plei.

Love to you & a flamethrower.

msbelle, mom and stepdad have similar insurance. I’ve been avoiding my looking into it because as someone already disabled I’m not sure if I even qualify or if the cost would be ridiculous.

I just looked up the company mine is with, Protective Life. I think you might have to get the long term care stuff via a financial planner, as I do not see it on their consumer facing website. I use Edward Jones and know two agents I really like if anyone is looking for someone. You don’t have to be in the same area or even state of your agent.

I got LTC insurance a couple of years ago through my work. (It’s paid directly rather than through paycheck withholding, so that it survives your employment if you move on). It’s similar - if I don’t use it and croak, it converts to life insurance.

As someone with no spouse and very limited family (and for that matter the only one of my siblings who is reasonably financially stable) it was on my “I should do this” agenda for a long time so I’m glad it got put in front of me.