Note: this post is effectively just a journal entry for myself. Don’t expect much of interest here.
2022 was a turbulent year for my family. Early in the year my dog had major emergency surgery on the same day my father-in-law had open-heart surgery. That was a stressful, wondering if we would lose either or both of them on that day (spoiler, all went well for both! And the father-in-law is still going strong even today). In May my mom had major surgery to replace a hip joint (which was compounded by an old skiing accident). I was able to fly out and help her for the first week she was home.
Due to the complexity of that surgery, my mom was still going through physical therapy months later, and still had a hard time getting around. She sadly passed in October 2022 (from heart failure, which may have been exasperated by other things). I then spent the next year dealing with executor of estate stuff.
It’s been a weird thing to lose a parent. She had been one of the primary people I would share updates of my life with. Losing the person I would reach out to when I wanted to share things created a gap that cannot be replaced. I am not able to share updates to my family. Of new things my kids are doing and learning. Of changes in our lives. Of a silly thing I just read or watched.
And in the last week, my family lost our long-time pet, Niko, who my wife and I adopted 13.5 years ago. While I grew up in a house with dogs (between 1 to 4 dogs always being there), losing a pet is always hard. Having Niko be my first and only pet since being an adult, it’s a fairly big. We lost a part of the household that I always expect to be in certain spots (Niko-underfoot was notorious). My kids lost their food vacuum.
It’s weird getting older.
One of the consequences of a fallen world is that loss is a part of it. While there is a window of redemption on the other side, we live in that fallen world and have to deal with it. We have a God we can turn to, to help guide us through rough times, though it is easy to forget (much as the Israelites did over and over in Judges). Remembering to turn to Jesus in both hard times and good times is one lesson I’ve been learning.