[Insert Life-altering Event #2 Here]

...continued.

It's just a short three-hour drive from Dallas to Edmond, Okla., where my parents have lived since 2006. But I didn't make the drive often enough. I managed to let a thousand unimportant things keep me from making that trip more often. Guilt. Selfishness. Work obligations. Laziness.

With each visit it became painfully clear that as my father recognized me less and less, he also was disappearing before my eyes. He was losing his identity. I remember that there weren't any projects that he wouldn't attempt and master. He was creative, meticulous, and ambitious. He created his own darkroom, was a skillful carpenter, and created wire sculptures. Strong. Organized. Humble. Generous.

After his passing, I realized that I needed to make a move to help my mother through the transition. My parents married when she was just 15 years old. She's now 75. She lived with this man for 60 years and has been his sole caregiver for the past three extremely difficult years. She prefers to grieve privately, but she agreed the company would be nice; we're such good friends. It would be good for both of us. I couldn't make the move without my daughter though, but she was all for it. We are three generations of women under one roof again.

I was able to secure a position with my company and I made the transfer in less than two weeks. I moved all my worldly possessions into her garage on May 16th and began my new position May 18th. I can only compare it to a whirlwind romance in which you're swept off your feet. In short, We were all exhausted.

To be continuted....