Morning all and happy Monday. I hope everyone had a good one. Rain kept most activities indoors today but as there was much to do indoors, it wasn’t a problem. And t was nice to have a week off from garden work. But a new week starts so lets jump in and see what we can make of the first prompt of the week. Timers at the ready and off we go.
Okay I like the many places this could go. I think that Michael and Julie need to be up to something nefarious. Plus I kind of like that there are so many elements to break down and play with.
Monday, May 20th: I still have a ways to go.
“I still have a ways to go,” she said holding up her cloth. He nodded absently.
“That’s nice,” he said. “I’m sure it will be lovely.” She smiled but he was no longer even looking in her direction. She looked back down at her quilt in progress and wondered why he even bothered asking.
‘Maybe it is just a polite holdover,’ she thought. Emily was certain that at some point her brother-in-law was taught basic manners. She doubted her sister Julie would have married him otherwise. In truth she had little to do with Michael. All of them moved back when the family needed to pull together. It seemed everything collapsed at once. Their two surviving grandparents needed care so their parents moved in. As their grandparents worsened, so too did their parents.
For a while it seemed like no one would ever die. Their step-mother was holding things together but then little things began happening that caused a questioning of her role. Julie, Emily and their sister Margaret arranged a visit to the large and sprawling ranch to assess the situation. Once it had been a resort type area but gradually the tourists stopped coming so now it served as one large family space, each of them having their own little guest cottage and meeting up with the core family in the central area.
These days it felt more like a rest home than a former resort. During that visit it was clear that while their grandparents and father were suffering physical ailments, Their step mother Alice was in the early stages of dementia. While both Emily and Margaret worked remotely and could live anywhere, Julie was a stay-at-home mother with Michael working in his law office. That visit clinched the fact that something needed to be done and they made the decision to do it jointly. Julie and Michael’s kids had graduated and were off on their own adventures and Michael took early retirement.
Each of them had their own cottages and space and they took turns looking after everyone. When things were quiet, Emily worked on her quilt in the main house. When her turn dealing with everyone at the main house she returned to her home office and took care of her own work.
Lately however, neither Michael or Julie seemed to be interested in doing much of anything. Most of the shifts either one of them were supposed to take were split between her and Margaret.
‘At least it has been quiet lately.’ As crazy as the elderly sector could be, for now it was calm. The television may have been turned up to top volume but all arguments were related to whatever show was playing. Margaret was angry about Julie and Michael at the moment. Emily knew soon they would all have to talk but she thought something was going on beyond the general caregiver lethargy and she wanted to have an idea of what it was before confronting them.
Ten til Midnight 