I get a call from John, (which is actually good news), but I heard the urgency of bad news in his voice. It turns out our friend Mike McCarthy, AKA Mr. Blonde, was working under his car when the jack holding it up failed. The weight of the car crushed his skull and he's in really bad shape (but alive). I don't know more than that, other than he is in the hospital and still had bleeding in his brain.
This Monday, Jody awoke to find her truck had been broken into, stereo stolen, and the dashboard completely destroyed. While a bad enough event on its own, it comes on the heels of a lot of family tragedy for her, so it's like a pig-pile on her soul. The anger you feel makes those Islamic laws of chopping off fingers for stealing seem pretty reasonable.
Add to that, the ongoing struggles of other friends: Sheila's mentor and close friend, in the prime of life, has been diagnosed with liver cancer. This is the fourth instance of cancer in the past year in someone directly involved in my days. Actually, there is a fifth: Megan's (John's wife) cousin Heather, a senior in college, has a dangerous potentially fatal brain tumor that is being worked on. While I have never met her, I certainly know how hard it is for John and Megan. A work acquaintance recently was in a horrible car accident, leaving her in bad shape for a long time. And while I suppose I should be grateful for no first hand troubles (well, except the same stupid car/work/bad choices type stuff), it's just as hard, if not harder, to see friends go through this.
Of course, life deals its lumps but it's heartrending watching good friends suffer and being able to do little. I feel like I've been repeating "that's life" and "it'll be ok" like a rote automaton these days, murmuring out words of comfort that do little to ease the pain. Add to that, it amplifies the normal struggles in my (our) lives: relationships, work, family, everything feels the shockwave of bad news. It's been bad news for like 4 years out here, very little good has happened in contrast to the devastating events they should be balancing.
Anyway...I know it's important to be positive, but damn...I wish the sorrow and frustration could let up for even a month or two. And sure, "that's life" but all these bad things make it feel very one-sided in the favor of the negative.
