Back, Not Back

March 6, 2024

Current location: Milwaukee, WI, USA
Reading: Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
Listening: Raffi (I could probably recite this whole concert for you, after the number of times I’ve heard it this past week…honestly he’s a really great performer, but I desperately need to listen to some adult music now that I’m back home)

(if you have a moment, reply with your own 3-item status via email or in the comments)

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Back, Not Back

I just got home to Milwaukee from Seattle, where I spent a week helping take care of my little nephew James (age 2), who suffered some debilitating medical issues last year, was put into a coma to protect his brain, and has since been relearning how to do everything (and I mean everything: he’s slowly retraining his throat muscles that allow him to swallow, and has only just recently started figuring out how to focus his eyes).

I’m exhausted! I’ve been out there to help a few times now, and the family (my sister, brother-in-law, and parents) in that multi-generational household are all working the equivalent of a full-time job just taking care of the little guy, and we non-Seattle family members have been swinging through when we’re able to help shoulder some of that burden, but wow—it’s a lot. It’s just persistently a lot.

I feel some of the same things I felt after my last visit, perhaps most prominently that anyone who takes care of another human being, perhaps especially if that human being is having trouble just functioning in some way, is a saint and incredibly impressive, as there’s so much that goes into that type of care that isn’t visible from the outside (and which inflicts all sorts of physical and psychological strain over time), and that I’m just so so so happy James is doing as well as he is—it could have been much worse.

My family in Seattle is doing better than the last time I saw them, too, having figured out more effective ways of distributing labor and dealing with each other in a consistently stressful situation, but also because of James’ many, accumulating successes (he’s a tough little guy, and is working just as hard as everyone else).

Every little bit of progress has been worth celebrating, and even though the path is still long, there’s been a lot of progress and good news.

All of which is to say, I’m not in the right state of mind or body to put together an actual newsletter this week, despite having (optimistically) planned to do so when I was mapping out my work, pre-visit. I prepared better this time, but I’ve got a lot to catch up on, and I’m still not feeling anywhere near 100% following all that effort, and because I suffer all sorts of sinus, nasal, and throat issues every time I go to Seattle (partly due to the trees out there, which I love but which don’t love me back, allergy-wise, and partly due to the abundance of charming but heavily shedding, flaking animals in that household).

Short of some unforeseen emergency in the next week, I’ll have a more normal newsletter for you next Wednesday, though. Thanks so much for understanding, and for all the kind words of support for little James and my family :)

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Photo snapped by my mother of me helping James with his standing exercises. He made a LOT of progress with this while I was there, which was a lot of fun to witness.