I have long said that hope is the virtue that I struggle with.
Or maybe it is that I struggle with the intersection of hope and reality.
I do try to keep my hopes realistic, not veering off into fantasy, but lately, it seems, even my realistic hopes get dashed on a regular basis.
On a personal level, my biggest struggle to maintain hope has been with my father’s health condition after a fall four weeks ago. I keep hoping that the medical team will be able to figure out what is causing his increased confusion, disorientation, and fatigue, so that we can make him more comfortable, but we don’t seem to be able to. I am not hoping for a miracle. Paco is 96 and has several underlying health conditions. I know the time we have left with him is limited. I just want to help make things as comfortable and stress-free as possible. I didn’t think this was an unrealistic hope, but perhaps it is.
Even with this personal struggle, there is always an awareness of what is going around us here in the US. I had hoped that, with several effective vaccines widely available, we could tamp down the pandemic, including the newer and more contagious variants. Instead, we are seeing some areas with very low vaccination rates experiencing spikes in COVID cases. Another realistic hope dashed.
Equally or perhaps even more alarming is the increasingly bizarre behavior of the Republican party. I had hoped that, after what even Republican election officials knew was a fair election, and especially after the horror of the January 6th insurrection and attack on the Capitol, the Republicans would fulfill their Constitutional duties and govern, at this point as the minority party. But they are not. In states that have a Republican legislature, especially if there is a Republican governor, too, we are seeing rafts of legislation that try to suppress votes of people who are less likely to choose Republican candidates. This isn’t just another dashed hope. It feels dystopian.
Of course, some hopes are more mundane. I had hoped to get an SoCS post written before I fell asleep and I have managed that.
I hope that Paco will have a decent day tomorrow.
And a decent week.
I hope that isn’t too much to hope for.
*****
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “hope.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2021/07/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-july-10-2021/
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Sending good and healing vibes your and your dad’s way 🤗
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Thanks so much, Bee.
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I think it’s okay to hope for whatever we want. We just cant expect them all to come true. I hope there will be enough moderate, reasonable republicans so we don’t go into all out dystopia, but, knowing anything is possible, I will not be surprised either way. Your hopes for your father to have comfort and less stress are not too much to hope for. I’m hoping with you and for you to have the same, at least that there will be moments of peace. Sending prayers and hugs.
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Thank you, JoAnna. Just got confirmation that Paco has another infection, which may help to explain some of the worsening we have seen over the last few days. Now we have to hope that they can find the right antibiotic to knock the infection back.
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It’s good that you know and it’s treatable. I hope you get some good rest.
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I did sleep more than I have been managing to most nights. Hoping it gives me some clarity to deal with the rest of the week that will include a care conference, still by phone rather than in person.
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I so relate to this post. Hope has been a big struggle for me, too, and now that the covid numbers are going back up I’m feeling angsty. I hope you’re having a good week. 🙂
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I know the covid numbers are disheartening. I hope that you are in a safer area. I admit that when I saw a map of vaccination rates this morning, I felt good about being in the Northeast.
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When we’re faced with an incoming dangerous situation we know could have been prevented, such as the wildfire of variants spreading through the unvaccinated, it makes hope so hard and a sense of defeat so easy. I appreciate your reminding me of the value of hope. And I too hope they figure out your father’s situation so your hopes can be realized.
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Thank you, Ellen. The new antibiotic has helped a lot. We aren’t sure how full a recovery he can make from the falls, but he is at least making big gains over where he was last Wednesday.
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