A few things have got me on a bit of a downer. For instance, my mum telling me about how she met up with a friend from PRIMARY school (pretty neat, if you remember anything at all about each other after 40 years?) who now has pancreatic cancer. And she’s all alone – her kids are overseas and her husband’s working in Africa. Imagine going through something like that by yourself.
I also came to realise that my “big” cousins – who were all 20something when I was a freshfaced wee thing on the cusp of adolescence – are now in their thirties with careers, families and houses. Now, I’M that 20something cousin to the little ones! How, and when, did that happen????
Finally, one of our flatmates – he was actually crashing with us for the last month or so at the old house. He’s lovely and good-natured and always smiling. But he is not the brightest crayon in the box. a) he has terrible luck and b) he makes stupid choices.
He’s racked up so much debt. First he was given $10,000 on his 18th birthday, went and bought a ridiculous car, and it was all downhill from there). He had a series of car crashes, clung on to a relationship with a total wackjob, racked up a ton of traffic fines… He’s been out of work all year after an injury, and relies on his single dad for help quite a bit. They all seem really close knit – him, the dad, his little sister, and his nana; he has a framed photo of him and his grandma next to his bed. (His bed, inside the big windowless walk-in closet off the hall…. but at least he’s not paying a full share of rent.) Yeah, I don’t know why, but it’s really getting to me – it’s such a shame.
