Juxtaposition

I have spent the past two days in an office with neither air conditioning nor windows that open. To say it has been unpleasant would be an understatement.

My uncle Lloyd turned 66 today, so we all had a party of sorts, sitting around my grandmother's bed at the hospital.

My aunt Gay was there and she's looking worse than ever. It seems like every time I see her she's gained another twenty or thirty pounds and tonight she looked like she had been inflated like a balloon. What I wouldn't do for a needle.

Auntie Marilyn was also there. I'm not sure exactly how she puts up with Lloyd's pompousness but she does it and seems to enjoy it for some reason. This is something that I'll never understand. She's such a dear.

The whole thing seemed kind of strange to me though.

On one side of the curtain, people were laughing as Lloyd told stories about home internet use: "So, I email Marilyn and say do you want to make love tonight? and she emails me back, no. Must be a default in the damn computer program or something."

On the other side of the curtain behind me another woman lay in her bed, tended by a volunteer because she didn't have any family near. She is not expected to make the night.

There will be pictures again when I'm not so damn tired.