One of Those Days...

Today feels like “one of those days”…  I was in the office earlier today and had a few free minutes, so I called my mom for a bit.  Her breathing sounded labored and wheezy.  I know she’s had a rough go of it lately.  She has to use her oxygen 24/7 these days.  Plus, the doctor is giving her a few more weeks off of her chemotherapy to help her regain some strength.  Mom thinks it’s helping a little.  This round of chemo seems to be zapping her strength more than the last full round two years ago.  But she’s glad that at least this time she hasn’t lost her hair completely.  It’s thinned out substantially, but she still has hair.

Then Mom told me more that I really didn’t want to hear.  Or, wish I didn’t have to hear.  Or, wish it hadn’t happened.  Earlier this week, Mom was on her way with a friend to visit another friend who was in jail.  He was in jail for unpaid traffic tickets.  Lots of them.  (Sidebar: Sometimes I just don’t understand a judicial system which will put a disabled man in jail for unpaid traffic tickets but let more violent offenders off with a slap on the wrist. I’m not defending the unpaid tickets, but do you see my point?)  Anyway, Mom and her friend went to visit him in the county jail.  

First, though, they stopped at the bank.  Mom withdrew $425 to use for Christmas gifts.  Each year, my parents’ church visits a nursing home and brings them gifts and treats and has an evening of caroling with them.  Mom told me that she usually brings 25-30 gifts, just to make sure that there’s something for everyone.

Well, by the time Mom was back in the car after the jail visit, she realized that her envelope of cash from the bank was gone.  Missing.  Disappeared.  Vanished.   She’s reasonably certain that it wasn’t taken, that it somehow fell out of her purse, but, to me, that doesn’t matter.  

Money that she can’t afford to lose is gone.  I’m sad, frustrated and angry. I’ve cried about it several times today.  When I’m not crying, the tears are right there, welling up and waiting for me to choke them back.  If I were still working a corporate job, I’d send her the money without thinking twice about it.  But I’m not, so that’s not an option.

Yes, I realize that it’s just money and not something more important.  If it had been ME losing the money, that’s really how I’d feel.  Really.  But it’s not me.  It’s my mother.  I know how many months it takes her to stash away that much money from her Social Security payments.  And I know that it was going to be used to bless others.  THAT’S why I cry.

So, I’ve done the only thing I can do: Prayed.  I’ve prayed that whoever it is that found that money needs it so desperately. I’ve prayed that whoever found that money would be blessed beyond belief, that it will meet needs that were only expressed to God Himself.  And I’ve prayed that whoever found Mom’s money will use it to bless someone else.

Then, this evening I found out that the Honduran government is wreaking havoc on our plans for school graduation on Friday, telling us we can’t have it.  Seriously?  More on that tomorrow.

I'm sorry that my post is a bit of a Debbie Downer today.  You didn't think that all my days were bright and sunny, did you? Thanks for listening, though.

Yes, it’s been one of those days…