I'm not sure what to feel, or if I really feel much of anything at all. John (the HusBrat) got a call from his sister last week that his mother had died. It wasn't precisely sudden. She'd been on oxygen for years because she was a chronic smoker most of her life, and she'd been in a facility for a few months at least due to balance issues. But she seemed to be okay and in something of a holding pattern, until he got the call.

I didn't know her all that well. What I did know, for the most part I liked. HusBrat and I just have lives that are largely separate from the families we grew up in. We do respectively keep in decent touch with our siblings, each of us with one specifically most often. I do like that we're going up to the service and such. It's an opportunity to let HusBrat be with people who actually knew his mother and perhaps be able to grieve her the way he needs to, as well as an opportunity to see and catch up with his dad's side of the family.

It's kind of unfortunate that in the last decade or so, the only times we've traveled to be with our families is for memorials. I so loved being with mine for Tom's last year.

But over all, I'm just kind of along for the ride, this time.