A lot has happened since I last wrote about the ups and downs of my life. My youngest, the Fabulous Mister O, graduated high school early and managed to snag his associate’s degree before his high school diploma. It’s a huge achievement, but the joy was soon mixed with sadness.

I recently lost a dear friend, Big Al. We hadn’t talked in a while, and I learned that he spent his last days homeless. It’s a hard truth to swallow, knowing he deserved so much better than that.

Then came the scare. My mom was in a car accident that flipped over twice into a ravine. It’s incredible, but she survived! Just a day later, I had to undergo surgery, and while I was still recovering, the Fabulous Mister O came home from visiting my sister in LA with a strange illness.

At first, he thought he had hurt his hip playing basketball, but it didn’t make sense because he hadn’t been injured. When we took him to urgent care, they misdiagnosed him with a sprained hip and sent him home. A day later, he couldn’t even stand. For three days, he lay on the couch, nursing his pain and using a bottle because he couldn’t make it to the bathroom. I was frantically messaging his doctor, trying to get him an appointment, but it felt like I was hitting a brick wall.

Finally, on the day of his appointment, I spoke with a nurse and told her he couldn’t come in because he couldn’t even stand up. She told me to call an ambulance, and that’s when I knew we were in trouble.

In the ER, the doctor was caught the abnormal labs even though the x-rays came back normal. I can’t even imagine what would’ve happened if we had waited just one more day. It was life-threatening, and we had no idea! Thankfully, his grandfather dropped everything on the East Coast to come help care for him.

Friends I hadn’t heard from in ages reached out, sending prayers and well wishes, and it felt good to know I had support. I’m still recovering myself, and it seems like both Mister O and I are fighting off infections at the same time. I wish I could fast-forward to when we’re both feeling better, but for now, I’m thankful for this time to heal and for the love that surrounds us during this tough period.