I was going to write about something completely different for my monthly participation in Julie Valerie’s Hump Day Blog Hop—I had no idea what, but it definitely wasn’t going to be this—and then, well, my cousin died yesterday.

It wasn’t unexpected. She was suffering with ALS for a long time—she survived longer than anyone expected—but even when you know it’s coming, it still…sucks mightily. She wasn’t very old, either, which makes it worse. She should have been able to stick around a lot longer, to watch her six grandchildren grow up.

Anything I say at this point wouldn’t be original. After all, wonderful people die every day, some from really heinous diseases like the one my cousin had. So I’ll just share a memory of Charleen that seems to summarize her spirit. Read the rest of this entry →