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For Those Who Feel Alone
This New Year’s is different for many of us. Rather than being a time of celebration, it is a time of prayer and contemplation. So—
For those who are alone at this time—
Whether you are with others and feeling isolated . . .
Whether you are grieving the loss of someone dear . . .
Whether you are sad and feeling at a loss . . .
Whether you are struggling with how to cope . . .
Whether you are frightened about the year ahead . . .
Please know, and know this most sincerely—
You are held in the hearts of many.
We are praying for you and for your family and dear ones.
We will hope for a brighter year for 2021.
We will pray to infuse you with health, resilience, and peace.
We will pray that you recognize that as part of the human community,
You are loved, embraced, and cared for in these times.
Amen.
Published in Culture
Thank you. This is a comfort.
I’m fortunate enough to have a loving spouse and several loving(?) cats, but certainly remember when this would have struck a chord. Let’s put the post into the “The Best of Susan Quinn.”
And if this applies to you, just post something . . . anything. We’re here.
How thoughtful of you Susan. For those who pray, please include my 87 year old mother who is struggling with gastritis. She had to be hospitalized for the second time last week and was discharged Christmas Day. The medications may be worse than the disease. I think the side effects of the meds are now the problem. Anyway I pray for all here struggling or alone. Drop me a private note if you want me to offer a personalized prayer. I will be glad to do it. It’s been a terrible year. On the bright side, we all survived it.
Very sweet sentiment.
Thank you ❤️.
Thanks for encouraging others to reach out, Hoyacon.
Extra prayers for your mother, Manny.
It is important for people to understand that alone does not always mean lonely.
That said, beautiful thoughts, Susan.
So very true.
I am fortunate to be with my wife who has had a tough year. In June she had Covid and her COPD makes her high risk. She takes HCQ for rheumatoid arthritis and her doctors and she believe it aborted the infection. She spent three days in hospital and a month recovering at home. Then, in October, she had her gallbladder out by laparoscopy and the surgeon, a young woman, botched it. As it happens I was a pioneer in this surgery and did a thousand cases without a complication. She has had four hospitalizations since October and finally had the last two weeks ago, when the stent in her bile duct was removed. She feels fine now but has lost 14 pounds from 110 before surgery.
In July, I had my right lung middle lobe removed for what turned out to be Valley Fever or coccidiomycosis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidioidomycosis
I probably contracted it from filling holes in the back yard that my basset hound had dug. She got the worst of it as she got infected and developed pneumonia on xray. We noticed her coughing and took her to the vet, who made the diagnosis. I did not even know dogs could get it. Anyway, she was put on a drug for it called “Fluconazole.”
https://www.drugs.com/cdi/fluconazole-tablets.html
We gave her the pills twice a day and she was getting along OK until she developed “Uveitas” in her left eye.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/uveitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20378734
That involved drops in her eyes four times a day. The weekend after Thanksgiving she got much worse, probably disseminated Cocci, a sort of fungal sepsis. On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving , she died.
I was talking to a doctor friend while we were in CA and he told me he had just lost a human patient to the same disease.
We miss her but we are both better after a bad year. We will get another basset after a month or so.
Sophie before she got so sick. She loved to curl up under my desk.
After successfully avoiding COVID-19 for ten months, this morning my 93-year-old immune-suppressed mother came down with something. This is right after we found out that an extended family member, who was with us for Christmas, just tested positive for C-19. We rushed Mom in for a rapid test, which came back negative. If she hasn’t got COVID, she’s got something else. Maybe a flu strain.
I hope and pray she recovers quickly. I’m not ready to lose her. Come to think of it, I never will be.
The Best of Susan Quinn would need an editor. The editor would need three skills: recognizing the best of Susan Quinn, making Susan Quinn hit deadlines, and hitting his or her own (the editor’s) publishing deadlines.
#2 and #3 are instances of a general skill–Deadline-Related Functions–for which I’ve not been particularly noted throughout my career, to put it non-judgmentally.
So though I am arguably the best person in the world at the first except perhaps her husband, whom I’ve not met and might be just fine, I am sorry to say that if this project ever gets off the ground, it will have to muddle through with the next best editor in the world, or Mr. Susan if he is indeed the best, in which case no muddling will be necessary.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Michael.
I’m so sorry, The Cynthonian. Sending her prayers for healing, and sending you prayers for peace.
We lost a friend on 12/19, but having our grandson arrive on the 22nd made things a lot better. If I get his wife’s permission (can’t say “widow”), I’ll make a post about him.
Mark, you never fail to crack me up!! Let me put your mind at ease: I’d prefer to keep posting like everyone else! I hate deadlines–I’m retired for heaven’s sake! So you’re off the hook, as is Mr. Susan. And as always, thanks for the kind words.
I hope everyone’s New Year’s Eve was a peaceful one. I’ve given a lot of thought to @django‘s comment about being alone and loneliness. He is right, of course; there is a difference. And yet this year causes a strange mixing of the two. I may write a post on it.
Meanwhile, it’s New Year’s Day, and if you are struggling, or if you’ve found relief, feel free to share.
That would be beautiful, Stad. I hope neutral observer approves.
Hehe . . neutral observer isn’t the widow – I don’t think. No, I was referring to my late friend’s wife (also a friend). She wrote a beautiful tribute for the funeral home web site, but even if it’s a public post, I want her to agree to let me post a link here.
Sorry–I read “the wife.” You were clear, I was sloppy. Yes, you should ask her, and since I assume it will be a tribute, I’m quite sure she’ll say yes.
Or hungover. Hehe . . . JK!
You wish. I had my usual glass of wine at dinner. Not even champagne. And it was okay. Wild turkeys came squawking by at 7:30am–the real kind of turkeys, and it was a funny way to wake up and welcome the new year.
Being in the big city, I got treated to sirens, loud motorcycles, and an even louder drunk woman who was yelling “Happy New Year!” in the hotel hallway at 0020. Glad she made it back to her oom alive, but man! What a set of lungs . . .
That doesn’t seem overly difficult. I chose not to suggest “The Pocket Susan Quinn” since it would additionally require someone adept at manipulating big letters into really little letters.
Everyone s a winner baby, that’s no lie. You never fail to satisfy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79U18crTnBI
In my part of the woods, seeing wild turkeys is a good sign.
Keep up the good work.
At 112 proof, I’m surprised you can see anything.
@susanquinn, your post highlights the many ways in which people become isolated even when they are with other people. Let me add one more: the realization that everything we perceive and experience is processed in the mind and can either be “real” or constructed. While it is a startling and possibly disturbing thought, it is correct. But focusing on it is madness. We must literally “get out of our head” to experience life, and love, and joy. Our most basic faith is that there is reality outside of the brain. We must literally train our brain to serve our desires not to be our inner tyrant. (A contradiction, I know.) Isolation is a choice. Our humanity cries out for society, and society is ever available if we open ourselves to it.
Beautiful. Thanks.
Mom seems to be on the mend, thank God! Brother-in-law the nurse-practitioner thinks the chances are probably 75% that what she had was C-19, despite the negative test. (Those rapid tests apparently have a pretty high inaccuracy rate.). She was on an immune-boosting regimen already (Vit C, D3, and zinc) and she uses supplemental oxygen at night to help with her A-fib. The oxygen, and deep breathing exercises every hour she was awake, probably helped her avoid the respiratory issues generally associated with C-19, as she did not develop them. She still has a lot of body aches and some fatigue, but her energy level is improving.
That is great news!! I’m so glad to hear that she is doing better. It’s wonderful that she has had skilled and loving people around her. Thanks so much for the update!