Tuesday, July 21, 2015

386 Days

My mother in law passed away from bile duct cancer July 1st, 2014, but that didn't turn our world upside down. It was the day in January six months prior when we received the first indication that the pain in her rib cage was likely stage 4 of a type of cancer that was fatal within a year.  It was the worst six months of our lives, and the last year has been all about finding our "new normal".  Adriana Perez was a force of nature.  My wife and I were there the moment this force became still. The void she's left behind can not be filled.  It's a permanent chasm of ache that dulls with time but never completely heals. We are in a much happier place now than we were a year ago, but this new normal still feels like an alternate reality. As we go into the 386th day of the "Post Abuela Era", we keep rebuilding and living in the here and now. We still have each other.