Trials and tribulations......

There are times in one's life when bad things seem to happen all at once.....and it's happening to me. I know there are lots of people out there who have suffered worse, but I'm having a hard time keeping it together right now.
My dear friend in England is , at the moment, having to cope with the fact that her husband has terminal cancer in colon, liver and lungs. The fact that she is not well herself compounds the problem.....and he won't allow her to get help....at least at this point. As you might gather, I am feeling rather helpless and hopeless at finding the words to comfort her. I can only listen...and I know that's what she needs, but the thought that a very dear sweet man, whom I have only known for a relatively short time (half the time I've known her) is only with us for a short while longer is devastating to me....as is the thought that my friend has lost her soul mate.....they married late ...both 56 years old....and it doesn't seem fair that they shouldn't have more time together. I keep in touch...it's all I can do at this point.
The other thing that has happened is not necessarily bad (depending on how you look at it), but my dear 97 year old aunt is finally having to go into a care facility....by her own choice though....which is probably better than being forced to do so. Still.....I held out hope that she would be able to manage in her apartment for a while longer, but it seems she doesn't want to be alone at night any more.....too many times she has woken up and needed help and has called an ambulance to take her to hospital. She has heart problems, so it is not unexpected....but having been through this whole thing with my mother and watching other aging relatives, I can't help but worry that going into a care facility is the first step in the downward slide into dementia. However, my aunt is alert and quite "with it" and has many interests, so I can only hope that she will do well there. It just seems to me that once they are in the care home, the will to keep going subsides and all the "fight" goes out of them. My brother and I are making a flying trip down tomorrow to be with her during the move, so we will know more then on how she is doing. I may be making a mountain out of the proverbial mole hill. We shall see.
We were supposed to take our dog Chauncey to the groomers tomorrow, but had to change the date because of the trip to the coast. In doing so, I found out that our groomer (a lovely lady who adores the dogs) has been diagnosed with brain and lung cancer. My inital reaction...."What the h--- is going on." There is another lady who will do the job and she did mention the possiblity that our original groomer would be back.....I hope so....I hope that her cancer is treatable and goes into remission.....I expect we will find out more on Monday when we take Chauncey in.
Sigh.....
So there you have it....when I write it all down, it doesn't seem like much, but I find myself wandering around wondering what to do......so in the end...I sit and read to take myself away.
Probably not a bad thing in retrospect.....
Thanks for listening...
Slainte.