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Not so much seeking advice as venting
So I get a text this morning from my brother. To set the background, my late uncle and his wife (still with us) had a large family: 7 kids of their own, plus 1 adopted one (auntie is, AFAIK, no longer in contact with the adopted one -- he has mental issues and I guess she -- a retired NURSE -- can't cope, or something).
So anyway, brother advises me that one of the cousins and her husband are both very ill and from the sounds of it, the prognosis for both are not good. I don't know what it is but apparently it's not COVID. They are private people and are not sharing this widely, so we are being advised NOT to contact them about it.
So how did brother know? Well, auntie sent him an email Christmas card and included the news therein. How nice of her to respect their wishes for privacy at this time, right?
Brother (being reasonably intelligent) contacted one of the other cousins about this; she was the one who advised him that they are trying to keep this to themselves for as long as possible, and walked a delicate balancing act between telling him what she could and honouring their wish for privacy (partly why we don't know details about their specific illness/illnesses). The brutal irony in this case is they are both largely reborn 1960s hippies (although too young in fact to have BEEN hippies): eating only organic foods, growing a lot of their own veggies, she made much of the babyfood for their children at home, etc. etc. And now this.
And, when it comes to auntie being unable to shut her yap for more than six seconds, just in case anybody was thinking "Well, you have no kids; you don't know what a mother would feel like in this situation" -- you're absolutely right. But my background paragraph was to point out she has SIX OTHER CHILDREN that she can discuss this with (at least some of whom will know about this), rather than sending it out to everybody on her address list.
I already knew better than to tell her anything I wouldn't post on Facebook; this just cements that.
So anyway, brother advises me that one of the cousins and her husband are both very ill and from the sounds of it, the prognosis for both are not good. I don't know what it is but apparently it's not COVID. They are private people and are not sharing this widely, so we are being advised NOT to contact them about it.
So how did brother know? Well, auntie sent him an email Christmas card and included the news therein. How nice of her to respect their wishes for privacy at this time, right?
Brother (being reasonably intelligent) contacted one of the other cousins about this; she was the one who advised him that they are trying to keep this to themselves for as long as possible, and walked a delicate balancing act between telling him what she could and honouring their wish for privacy (partly why we don't know details about their specific illness/illnesses). The brutal irony in this case is they are both largely reborn 1960s hippies (although too young in fact to have BEEN hippies): eating only organic foods, growing a lot of their own veggies, she made much of the babyfood for their children at home, etc. etc. And now this.
And, when it comes to auntie being unable to shut her yap for more than six seconds, just in case anybody was thinking "Well, you have no kids; you don't know what a mother would feel like in this situation" -- you're absolutely right. But my background paragraph was to point out she has SIX OTHER CHILDREN that she can discuss this with (at least some of whom will know about this), rather than sending it out to everybody on her address list.
I already knew better than to tell her anything I wouldn't post on Facebook; this just cements that.