2019 was not a good year for me.
After a long illness, my father passed away in March. His care, up to the time of his death, placed a pall over everyone. We knew what was coming. We took care of his needs—getting him to dialysis, cleaning the ulcers on his feet, the day to day of helping a mostly wheelchair-bound man get around… We didn’t mind any of that. We just wanted him comfortable and happy. After his death, personally, I felt drained of energy and creativity. Mourning is a malady, just like flu, and it also makes you susceptible to every bug going around. So, I barely wrote.
That’s why this list of releases for 2019 is so short. I’ve always been a prolific writer, but I couldn’t make myself sit at my computer and do the work. If you missed any of these releases—some new works and some re-worked previous releases—the links are embedded here:
1. 01/22/19 – ANIMAL, Montana Bounty Hunters series
2. 03/11/19 – ALONG CAME A SPIDER, Men in Uniform Anthology
3. 04/30/19 – STRANDED, A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology
4. 05/14/19 – GILDED CAGE, Femme Surnaturel series, reissue
5. 07/14/19 – NEW ORLEANS NIGHTS, SEALs in Paradise series
6. 07/30/19 – QUINCY DOWN UNDER, short story, reissue
7. 08/12/19 – BIG SKY WEDDING, Montana Bounty Hunters series/Brotherhood Protectors crossover
8. 08/30/19 – MAMBO’S DOOR, Femme Surnaturel series, reissue
9. 09/24/19 – QUINCY, Montana Bounty Hunters series
10. 11/05/19 – HARVEST MOON, Beaux Reve Coven series
My favorites projects to work on from the list were…
 
We lost my grandmother, who also lived with us, in 2018, after months and months of in-home 24/7 care. We lost dad in 2019. At the end of this year, my mother’s health has taken a hit. She’s spending the New Year holiday in the hospital, while we wait for the doctor’s to tell us what her future will be.
I’ll be glad to see the end of this year. I’m not very hopeful on the home front for 2020, but I do have a plan to do better on the writing front… More about that tomorrow.
I’d love to hear how you deal with sadness. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Delilah,
The thing about grief is it’s unique to each person. You’re allowed to be sad for as long as it takes to feel better. Gods know I’ve had enough of that in recent years, so I understand what you’re dealing with. Be gentle with yourself. If you’re sad and don’t want to do anything, it’s okay. When you feel better, you’ll be ready to do those things again.
It sounds like you have a great support system, so you have people around you who understand what you’re going through, and you’ll all be able to help each other through it, which is awesome.
Hugs!
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One day at a time. One day you wake up and look back and realize that you smile more and don’t cry every time you think of the person because the sharp edges of your loved ones suffering in now muted in your memory and the happy memories are shiny memories. It’s hard to get to that point but it does happen.
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2019 was also a difficult year for our family. My sister-in-law had a major stroke in February that has left her with dementia like symptoms, as well as physical problems, at age 67. She’s in a nursing home with no expectation of leaving there as she can’t walk and is on a catheter. It’s taking a toll on my brother who was a young 75 until this happened. Our family has never had to deal with anything like this before and we are taking it one day at a time.
Hubby and I lost our beloved Buttons in October. While it wasn’t unexpected, it still has hit us hard. Mostly we try to remember and talk about the funny things he did and how much we loved having him as part of our family for 16 years. While I think I’m handling it OK, every now and then the grief hits me hard.
There is no one way to get through grief but humor seems to help us. My SIL is happy in her own little made up world where all of her deceased loved ones are still alive. She also has a boyfriend (imaginary but not to her) so we laugh about these things instead of crying.
I hope that 2020 brings better things for everyone.
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You are all very kind.Thanks for the advice!