Day is Done

Thursday evening as I lay in my bed recovering from a migraine I thought about my friend D. I was expecting a phone call or a visit from him that evening since he was leaving for the Middle East the following day. I've missed him a great deal this summer. There was a time in our life where he was my second set of eyes and mine his as we sweated through long summers in unairconditioned studios. Both of us live very different lives now. We are both married and have bigger circles of family and friends to distract us from that very specific kind of solitude it takes to work alone everyday with the occasional friendly distraction.

He showed up. I was in bed and Mr. dd came to fetch me. He was wound up and in the throws of 11th hour packing, errands and unexpected delays. He took the time to look at my newest work and we talked about his family. He comes from a large Catholic tribe and is married to a lovely writer with two children. He has a sister who lives in CA but is here to visit her mother and family for the last time. His sister is dying of cancer and D was visibly upset because she might not make it back to CA before the cancer takes her last breath. She has fought her disease for the past 10 years and has continued to work in morphine induced state for the past two years in order to keep her health insurance. She's a lovely woman who has made her career crunching numbers for the film industry. The fact that she has spent her last two years focusing on things of such little consequence in order to pay her medical bills breaks all of our hearts.
Such scenarios should be the topic of a another post.

By 11pm Thursday evening I walked D to his car and wished him well on his journey around the world. I wondered how he could leave with his sister in such a delicate state - (I KNOW this man)... and wondered if he would have to turn around and come back.

Today I was on my porch working and up walks dear D with our new neighbor. He brought her into the hood and we are very thrilled to have her here. He couldn't get on the plane yesterday because it has become apparent that his sister is in a state of decline and will not make it back to CA. He is buying time to be here with her. It broke my heart to see him in this state and yet I know it is right that she and he are both here. She is meant to be here with her family and D is supposed to be by her side.

He has struggled with his work being so far from home for close to five years now and the universe has challenged each departure every step of the way. He and his lovely family will be in our hearts this week. They are a second family for me.