Hello, friends and readers.
I'm writing this to inform you that I'm going to be away for a while as my mother passed away yesterday evening at the age of 68.
We've known this was coming for some time -- for months if not a year -- but that hasn't necessarily made it any easier. The last week has been the most surreal week of my life and I don't believe everything has sunk in yet.
I don't know exactly how long I'll be away for, but I do know I'll be back at some point. I could be back next week or the week after. I don't know how I'm going to feel later today much less tomorrow or next week, and there's so much to do now. I'll be visiting a funeral home this afternoon.
Some of you may have noticed that I did not run a winter fundraiser during this quarter. I was going to do that this week, but I decided not to after learning that my mother could pass away any day. I didn't want to run a fundraiser and then vanish for a week or longer.
I'm going to leave a one time donation button on this post, and not because I'm looking for sympathy -- because I'm nearly broke and I put all of my Christmas shopping for my family on a credit card. I bought Michelle Obama's book for my mother and she didn't even get a chance to read it. And I need the money. I depend on my quarterly fundraisers to stay above water and when I say your donations help me afford food, I'm not exaggerating.
Thank you for reading and laughing at my bad jokes. I'll see you all soon.
Update... my mother was finally cremated yesterday morning and I'm tentatively planning to return here on Monday the 28th.