August Complaint

Do you have the August Complaint? This has been one of the hardest August’s of my life. I have 2 very significant positive things- my dad’s cancer has improved so much, and it is looking really good right now- miraculously but not without a good attitude and healthy lifestyle; and; my brother’s wedding is coming up. That’s 2 big wonderful family things.

And then there’s the August Complaint. It’s not just an old-wive’s tale about bodily function.

I lost a cousin to suicide, and left behind him is one of my childhood friends and their three children. That alone is a huge toughy. And then there is other stuff, some of which I’m not comfortable personally disclosing, and there’s a young girl who got brain cancer in my community, and it just all plain SUCKS. So much. A big pile of poo. Explosive diarrhea suck.

That’s what the August Complaint started out as, a civilized way to say that you’re likely to get diarrhea in August. But, alas, it’s turned out to be a metaphor for this month of trying times. I am optimistic, and I have a lot to be thankful for, but part of me wonders if life isn’t playing a cruel trick on my mind and the minds of others close to me.

A good friend said something like this, “I still believe there is a God, but that’s about it.” It’s not that there’s nothing to work towards, or to be happy about and/or proud of, it’s just that D$%N these are some difficult times to live in in this society. I think.

I’m not sure. I’m not even experiencing any sort of normal going-back-to-teaching/school anxiety-depression combination. I’m just sort of bewildered.

And that’s my August Complaint.