One week
Taxes are due. Despite knowing such things happen when making use of a stash meant for tomorrow, it still stings.
We procrastinated, not wanting to know, not wanting to let go.
Of money.
It's just money, I tell myself as I crunch numbers.
Then an e-mail: Please pray. She's in a coma.
I pray. I crunch numbers.
Hours later, a text: "She's dead." That's all it said.
I pray.
And consider that it truly is just money.
An e-mail: My cell phone's on hold; can't afford it.
Cancellations. No subs. No plan. Times three.
A phone call: She could die, Mom. Please pray.
I pray.
And $30 for half a tank of gas?
It's just money.
A voice mail: He's in the hospital. Can't figure it out.
A text: "I can't do funerals."
Another text: She's in ICU. Broken bones, sternum, neck. ATV.
I pray.
A conversation: The former rental, now residence? Red dust. Brown residue. Taped plumbing. Rusted hinges.
Neighbors ... and Google: It's drugs. It's meth. It's $40,000 average to clean up.
Really?
Really?
Low-blood sugar. Comas. Reverse mortgages. Fears of homelessness. Death. Funerals. A mother binds her toddler with tape and leaves her in the shower. Another drives her babies into the water.
And the ever-present wind.
One week.
The center cannot hold.
Really.
Hope springs eternal. Or so I'm told.
Which buoys a heavy heart. Tethered to hope, it's kept from sinking.
A phone call: There's a new plan. They want more info. We're moving forward. This could work.
A text: "Thanks for today! I'm super excited now! I can really see it all coming together."
A plea: We need you. Can you come? We'll pay.
And 69 days become 22.
Hope springs eternal.
The center can hold.
The center did hold.
This one week.
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Today's question:
How was your week?