Planning

Today was consumed by planning. My sister, always prepared for a battle, felt sidelined as my uncle and grandmother started making plans without her. A bit about my sister: she's staunch and despises change. Once she reaches her limit and shuts down, the only responses you'll get are "I don't care" or "whatever works for you."

Back to the story: my grandma and uncle have been taking care of Mom's animals while we sort everything out. We exchanged hellos and dove into discussing the celebration of life. To backtrack a bit, my uncle had suggested over the phone last night to host the celebration at a venue instead of the small gathering at Mom's house we'd initially planned. My sister was vehemently against this and made her feelings known during that call.

Now, with us all together, my uncle conceded that having the event at the house, as initially discussed, might be best. However, by that point, my sister was fed up with the whole ordeal and dismissed the conversation. It didn't help that grandma told her to improve her attitude, but that's grandma for you.

Situations like this really test a family's love, feeling like an uphill battle at times. Mom raised us to be strong and understanding. I struggled with this in my youth, only appreciating the value of forgiveness in my late twenties. My sister, more stubborn, resembles our dad in her inability to let things go. When they're done, they're done.

It took my aunt's intervention, talking it out with my sister, to make a difference. Sometimes, I think my sister feels overlooked, and all she needs is someone to truly listen—something Mom excelled at, making her an invaluable presence in my sister's life.

The rest of the evening was spent looking at and laughing over old photos. It still feels surreal that all of this is happening. Have any of you out there on the internet gone through something similar? This is incredibly tough; I hope it gets easier. Anyway, hey Mom, miss you. See you soon.