I know this may be tldr, so if you don't want to read it, I get it. However, I write the following as a form of therapy and to shed a little light on what I have gone through over the years.
Back in '07, I was still living home at the time. I used to live on the Northshore with my gf, but that's another story for another day. I had moved back home. It was a Saturday morning around 6am. The doorbell rang. I woke up, but kind of laid there thinking "who the hell is ringing the doorbell at 5am?" Then all of a sudden, I heard my mom just start screaming. I jumped up and came out and there were 2 detectives in the living room. They had just delivered the news that my sister was killed. My dad didn't live with us, but he was always around. Him and my mom separated when I was younger, but he lived close by, and I pretty much saw him every day. He was always here for us when/if we needed something. Anyways, I had to call my dad to give him the news. My dad was working, and he wouldn't just pack up and leave a job unless it was important. So, when I said "dad, you have to come here, we need to talk to you", that wasn't good enough. So I had to tell him over the phone that Kasey was killed last night. I just heard like a muffled "NOOO" almost like he dropped the phone to the ground. He came with his best friend, and I watched him and my mom cry like babies. I have never seen my dad shed a tear in his life. He was like the masculine stereotype. Never showed any emotion. So that was tough to watch. Her son, my nephew, had just turned 1.
Fast forward to March 2020. My dad had been sick for a while, although he would never go to the Dr. My dad was a well-built guy, but you could see he lost all of his body mass. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and asked my mom, along with 2 of his sisters, to take him to the hospital. He was diagnosed with colon, liver, and rectal cancer. He had waited too long and there was nothing they could do. It had spread everywhere. They kept him alive for another year. In April '21 they stopped treatment and sent him home with hospice on a Friday. He was dead Tuesday morning. We would take turns sitting out here with him and he took his last breath during my shift.
After my dad died, my mom and I were working on his estate. It was a mess because he had filed bankruptcy and was doing what the court ordered. In July of that same year my mom wasn't feeling well and thought she had covid. I took her to get tested and she did have it. They admitted her and she was in the hospital for 3 days. She got to feeling better, so they sent her home. It was a Sunday. She seemed fine Monday and Tuesday, but as that week went on I could see she was getting worse. Finally, I called 911. I told them my mom has covid and is having trouble breathing. I walked her from her bedroom to the recliner out front and waited with her for the ambulance. When they got here, I grabbed her purse, packed her phone and her charger and walked with her to the ambulance. I handed her her purse and told her everything was in there and to call me when she finds out what room she's in. Remember, during that time, visitors weren't allowed in the hospitals. Little did I I know, that would be the last time I would see my mom alive. I remember waiting all day Sunday and Sunday night for her to call. I would text her and ask her is she's in a room yet. I fell asleep and woke up around 6am Monday morning. I had a missed call from "mom" around 2am. I didn't hear the phone ring. By the time I woke up Monday morning, she was in a coma and the Drs had me and my nephew come to the hospital and say our goodbyes. Her funeral was the Saturday before that last major hurricane hit. No one came, everyone had evacuated. I felt so bad for mom. After it was over, I came home because I didn't have any money to evacuate. I rode the storm out here. The next day, after the storm was over, all of our power poles were blown over. I knew I had to go somewhere because we wouldn't have electricity for a while. The company that I worked for paid for a hotel for me in Alabama. I was there for 11 nights.
Fast forward to Sept '23, they fire me out of the blue. No reason given. Nothing that I was doing wrong was ever brought to my attention. I was sitting here at my desk and the phone rang and that was it. Life as I knew it was over.
I don't write this to gain sympathy from anyone. I know there are people out there that have it worse than I do. It's just, I have had enough. I just need help.