It’s been a rough month.

We returned from Argentina, aglow with the blissful guilt of over-indulgence. Too much shopping (the fashion!!), too much eating (the restaurants!), too much drinking (the bar at Home Hotel!), too much dolce de leche (everywhere!). All so very worth it. (see photos here). Though we didn’t know it at the time, we needed that — to stockpile the goodness, fatten up for the winter as it were — for there were choppy seas ahead.

In a nutshell… Best friends getting divorced (this was already happening before our trip, but is no less painful and awkward now); In-laws getting divorced (again, was already in motion and this one is probably for the best but Wow, not fun — and compounded by next three…); Thor’s Grandmother died Thanksgiving morning; Thor’s Grandfather was diagnosed with stage four bone cancer the same week; Thor’s Aunt’s ovarian cancer from last year is coming back — this is all on his Mom’s side. Needless to say she’s feeling like “Job” right about now. We all are. Then there’s been the illness — Quinn last week, me this week — and the insomnia. I haven’t had a solid night’s sleep in about 6 days now. My mom’s surgery last week that went awry — was supposed to be a routine in and out thing, but due to complications and Dr mistake, she spent the week in the hospital, being fed through an IV, unable to swallow. Scary.

And then there was this past weekend. That’s when a friend of ours decided to take her life via the Golden Gate Bridge. Yes, shocking, tragic and still hitting me in waves. Last night was a small memorial gathering with her parents who flew in from out of town. They are devastated. And that’s an understatement. We talked about the pain of losing a child. As a mother now, I can tap into what that would mean. I live in fear every day for the safety of my child. I can imagine what the pain of losing a child would be. I can’t imagine what it would be to lose a child under those circumstances. I hugged her dad for a long time. He just moaned and sobbed, his heart breaking for his little girl. I sobbed. He kept saying “Make sure you tell your child how much you love them. No matter what, you love them. It doesn’t matter what they do. They can always, always talk to you. They can always, always call you about anything because they’re your child and you love them. You have to make sure they know.”

Believe me, I will.