You know how there are bad weeks due to nothing you could control? Yeah, I just had one of those.

Wednesday my dad got a call and I could tell from listening that my cousin with long Covid had passed away. It wasn't expected since she had survived two heart attacks and almost a year with long Covid, but it wasn't unexpected since she kept landing back in the hospital, her kidneys were heading towards failure (she'd been type 2 diabetic for a long time), and she was in a step-down rehab facility at this time. The last time I saw her was in April 2021, right before she got Covid the second time. She could be prickly, but she's always been a part of my life, I loved her, and I will miss her. Still, it's better she went now, before even more serious health issues like dialysis cropped up and while she was in a facility where they found her body quickly. She lived alone in an apartment so it could have been a few days if she had died there.

I asked if there were any arrangements and was told nothing yet, so I went back to work. On Thursday my parents left for NYC to have my dad's hip replaced on Friday at HSS, and I had Good Friday off so while my dad was in surgery I got caught up on errands and bought supplies so I could make dinner when they came home since I know mom would be tired. The surgery went fine, but I know the rehab period is going to be really difficult, particularly since my parents fight at the best of times. They came back on Saturday and sure enough it was the beginning of WWIII.

My mom is a control freak and the stress just makes her yell even more, so my dad will walk to get something and she'll lose it again, rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat ad nauseam. I don't see it changing either, so I'm just not getting involved and trying to block it out. 

My sister's been in touch over the phone since she's still at my aunt's until tomorrow, and was freaking out about somewhere they went where my aunt refused to wear a mask. She wanted to talk to me so I asked her what that was about - turns out my cousin's wake was held last Friday. She had told mom, who hadn't told me because she was obsessing over the surgery and had forgotten I had the day off so...well, I don't get to say goodbye. It sucks and I really wish I could have been there, but it was Sunday before I found out so that time has obviously passed.

And I know the crappy week will continue since I can't get out of earshot whenever my mom loses it. For once I'm glad my sister's coming back since she gets more visibly upset about them yelling than I do, plus with her OCD personality she'll be trying to get my dad to do less. I feel sorry for him, but not enough to insert myself into the drama. At least I'm working so for 9-10 hours so I have a perfect excuse to not pay attention. And I've said goodbye in my head to my cousin, so that will have to be enough.