I had a nice chat with my Mom today. She has been through a rough patch, but is still her usual chipper and upbeat self. I guess that Monday she took my Grandma to have the cast taken off her arm. My step-grandfather has been having some mobility problems. He went from not needing a cane to a cane, to 2 canes to the walker my Grandpa used to use, to Mom borrowing a wheelchair. Mom took him on Tuesday to the doctor. Wednesday, my mom went with my stepfather to see an eye specialist in Pittsburgh for some problems he is having.
One of my mother's cats, Trouble, had some rather severe problems with his back legs/area below his rib cage for the past week or two. My mom took him to the vet again on Thursday, and things were not good. They figured it was probably something like a tumor on his spinal column. So, my mom held the cat while the vet put him to sleep. It was very sad, but Mom knows that he is better off now.
Mom and I talked at one point about Teri Rhodes, the Mercyhurst student who killed her newborn baby. I think we both felt unsure about this: was the woman totally whacked and possibly not responsible for her actions? It was reminding me oddly of Ray Carinci, who effectively let his partner die in unimaginable squalor. (Daryl had multiple sclerocis and couldn't move well. He was seemingly gnawed by rats while he was still alive, and the corpse had to be fumigated. Horrible!)
I had also seen some photos of the guards and their families at Auschwitz enjoying everyday pleasures while genocide was going on that they were helping. It seems unfathomable; how can folks have such a stunning disconnect between the world and the way that they relate to it and their fellow human beings? Okay, I know that the Auschwitz guards are probably the most extreme example, but you wonder how people can be so callous. It frightens me because I wonder if people I know or even myself have the seeds of this kind of mindless disregard for others.
Mom also had mentioned that my aunt and uncle were going on a cruise up the Atlantic coastline. My uncle has a few health problems, and was due to come back after the cruise for a hernia operation. He also has some other health problems apart from that. Mom called me back later that my uncle had run into some rather serious health problems on the cruise. The director of the cruise line had called to see what they could do to help. They turned the boat around (he's now in a hospital in Nova Scotia) People at the boat were lining up to donate blood if my uncle needed it. My cousin was heading up to be with his dad.
it was a sort of odd reminder that as much as there are awful people and horrible behavior, there is also goodness, decency and kindness as well. I guess it all works out to what we want to focus on.
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