Kids, Crickets & Cactus

 I haven't written all summer. All summer, you say? It's only July. Well, I mean summer break from school. Which, in our neck of the woods, is over now. Not only did I miss June's blog update, I also haven't written a single word of fiction, which is not common for me. But it's been a rough period of time. One of my best friends went into the hospital last May for what we hoped would be a minor stay (not that anything about her health is ever minor). And then, things just...got worse. Currently, she is receiving palliative care and we are waiting for her to graduate from mortal life (as she and I used to put it, back when we could talk about such things). It's hard to grieve the loss of someone who is still here. But that is what's happening. I still get to visit her in the hospital, but I miss our constant back-and-forth by messages throughout the day, I miss sharing all the ups-and-downs of our various adventures in life. I miss all our chats about stories...