Like most of you, I play many roles. I’m a daughter and a sister, a wife and a mother. Usually, I’m able to juggle all the balls with relative ease, even when a few become extraordinarily heavy. But thanks to this crackpot year we call 2020, my competent clowning days seem numbered.
Currently, the daughter ball is taking most of my concentration and might. Dad is battling terminal cancer, and as the only one of his five girls with the ability to help right now, I’ve been spending most of my days in Kentucky, which means my parenting ball has been completely discarded. What are my own kids up to? I have no idea. I think they are working. I hope they are showering, but honestly, they might be hosting a VR mosh pit in the certainly filthy kitchen. I’ve also completely neglected my husband, Doo. I think I’ve seen him maybe three days out of the last 14, so both family balls have rolled under a couch, soon to be forgotten like a dead battery or a half-eaten breadstick.
I am still managing to keep the sister ball in the air, quite spectacularly, I might add. They know how hard it is to be a caretaker to Dad and a shoulder for Mom. Having essentially volunteered as tribute, I have been rewarded with Most Favorite Sibling status. Thank you! I humbly accept.
But let’s not forget the highly unpredictable teacher ball, whose size and shape change daily. Sometimes small and round, sometimes a lethal flaming torch. How am I to juggle that hot mess?
So, I’m temporarily suspending my circus act.
Bozo out.
