Well, those of you who follow my blog may have noticed that I haven’t posted in almost 2 weeks. I haven’t even been inworld much in all that time either. The break wasn’t a voluntary one… real life just got real difficult for a while there, which didn’t just eat up my time but put me in a frame of mind that just wasn’t suitable for doing much of anything, let alone being creative. It’s hard to watch your parents fail and turn into helpless children where you’re their parent. And when the system fails them — which is what’s been happening repeatedly to my mom — you are their only advocate. It’s draining, it’s depressing, it’s confusing, and it’s exhausting. And although I have emotional support from family, the actual handling of everything (and there’s been a lot of handling!!!) has fallen squarely on my shoulders and on my shoulders alone. The bottom line is this, and it’s a frightening one… our healthcare system is NOT set up to help seniors with severe Alzheimer’s behavior problems… every facility seems to think the solution is to provide 1-on-1 care 24 hours a day. Since where I live that costs $24/hour, that’s $576 a day or $4,000 a week it’s completely out of the question… and mind you, that’s on top of the already insanely high monthly costs for memory care! Thankfully, I have a good friend in the healthcare system who urged me to check into hospice. I always thought that was only for terminally ill patients, but I’ve happily learned their services go well beyond that. Although my mom was originally rejected for hospice care, somehow the fact that she’s now falling several times a week (even daily) got her accepted, and it’s made all the difference. She no longer is sent to the ER every time she falls (where they do nothing, I have to then go and drive her, and she’s so fragile that she often ends up an additional skin tear from the transport) and nurses go to see her almost every single day. For the first time in years I feel like someone is actively trying to help her as opposed to just managing her. And now that the healthcare system down here is in active lockdown, that makes a HUGE difference since I can’t even get into the building to see my mom and reassure both her and myself that things are ok. Needless to say, it’s been a tough go. It felt amazing to work on a blog post (for an outfit I put on weeks ago lol), to play with lighting, to feel some creativity emerging from the dark, heavy cloud that’s been weighing me down. I’m sure I’ve lost some sponsors… most blogger-managers will understand, but some only see their own needs and are blind and uncaring to the real life struggles that we all must deal with from time to time. And you know what? That’s ok, because I couldn’t have lived with myself if I let anything be a bigger priority than taking care of my mom.
Going back into SL with fresh eyes I was struck by how amazing some of today’s fashion finds are… the little details, all the options, and so much more. Here are just a few… happy shopping!
- Outfit: Allure Couture – Ember. Casually sexy & just oh so cute, Ember includes a cropped corset top with contrast stitching along the top edge & on the lacing, denim booty shorts (& they are SHORT!!), & the cutest high-heeled wedge sneakers. Sized for Hourglass, Belleza F/I, Legacy, & Maitreya. She’s available in 5 separate colors, in a 5-texture Slimpack, or a Fatback of 10, all with 100% Original Textures where you can choose the top, shorts, sneakers & laces separately. EXCLUSIVELY at the 2Much Event, July 29th – August 16th. Demo available.
- Head & Eye Makeup: LeLUTKA – Nova Head (new 3.1 update with EvoX)
- Body: Slink – Hourglass
- Skin: Nuve – Hope in EvoX
- Freckles: SAP Beauty – Beauty Marks/Moles
- Eyes: ARTE – Green Eyes
- Hair: Doux – Peach
- Jewelry: Glint – Gemmed icicle drop earrings & necklace; Chop Zuey – Bel Aire Gold Women’s Wedding Band
- Location: Elvion