Really horrible weekend...

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*Update: Everything is working itself out now. Not all the way, but getting there. Thanksgiving went really well with the whole family. I added this quick, emotional representation of that day. It was actually pretty nice; the sky was really gorgeous, and not grey at all. But, it was really cold, and this is how it felt. Blurry, grey, and cold.

Well, as always and as evidenced by this blog directly following the great news in the last, when something good happens in my life, something equally bad is sure to follow. That's the balance of my life. And, since (thankfully) really good things happen from time to time, that means something really bad is around the bend.

Saturday morning, as I was sitting down to get caught up on my novel, I got a phone call from my sister saying that my brother-in-law's niece passed away. Her name was Amanda and, along with being mentally challenged and wrought with diabetes, her mother had passed a few years before. That's why she was living with my sister and brother-in-law, but at least she had a lot of kids to play with and a family to watch out for her. But, on Friday night, shortly after getting up for a drink of water, her blood sugar just got too low, and she went softly in her sleep.

My sister asked me through sobs if I could come be with her. She lives a few hours away and I really couldn't afford the time away from projects, but of course I'd go. Family is much more important than work.

So, I left and hurried as fast as I could. After the tedious, worried drive, I finally came to the small town of 14,000. A quaint, comfortable Kansas town. Relaxed, I turned onto Main Street, then down to 17th, where I turned again to head up to Jefferson, where she lives.

I made it one block before missing a stop sign and smashing into the driver-side door of another car. The impact was hard enough that it pushed the dash against my knees and pinned me inside. We'd spun around facing wildly different directions and I was really out of it. The car was totaled, undriveable. It was my fault, so I was issued the tickets and fines, and the car was towed away.

Long story short-ish: The rest of the day was a haze and I wasn't much good for consoling. In fact, when the cops came to ask my sister if she "knew of a Ray Dillon," she nearly dropped. Felt like I was doing more damage than good. I ended up calling the other driver, a nice older lady, and found out that she was okay, aside from some aches and pains. Things were better the next day. I tried to keep my two niece's and nephew's minds off of it. Nothing worse than hearing a three year old say, "Why's my Amanda dead?" :o(

Anyway, I had no way to get back home to work, so now I'm really behind on projects and it's not looking good for NaNoWriMo.

Not feeling too good right now. Still in some pain (my knees, mostly), and really stressed about my projects, including that really awesome one I just started. Took some time to pick up the Thanksgiving dinner, but I'm not sure if my sister and company will be coming now. Gotta get a new car and figure out how I'll make it up tomorrow for the funeral.

But, everything works itself out somehow. Just feeling kinda down.

Thanks for reading.

~Ray