In October I lost my dad. It was a loss after long and difficult months of declining health. I miss him. I started missing him a little when he was sick and those little realisations of parts of him that I’d lost. The thought processes that went “I’ll ask dad about that… oh I can’t because he can’t anymore.” Little waves of grief would capture my breath, bringing tears that had to be quickly brushed away to deal with the real demands of keeping him alive. I have no words for how grateful I am to have had him for all these years.
I’m thankful for the people in my life who turned up and supported us during the time of being in and out of hospitals. I’ve been to a whole new world, hospitals, nurses, doctors, aged care, and disability were not a regular fixture in my life. It was an experience I both want to keep with me to absorb into care and compassion for others, as well as package up and throw out with the rubbish, hoping to distance myself from it forever. There were some truly excellent professionals that I have seen in action. They work in difficult systems and circumstances, and I truly value their dedication. Many things were not ideal, though, and it was difficult to bear. At the end of it all, I don’t want to complain. If I could think of how to improve it, I would, but I really don’t understand enough to make a suggestion.
“The invisibility and under-recognition of “women’s work” – that is, the work that society assigns to women – is not just a matter of numbers.
It’s an erasure and diminishing of the value of women’s capabilities and contributions to our economy.”
Every week I listen to this man’s podcast and laugh. I enjoy them very much. https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/stream-of-contentedness-with-lewis-garnham/id1779506603
This month, there have been celebrations and occasions with my kids.