Better late than never! I still wanted to encapsulate February … so let’s pretend like it’s March 1, and February just ended. Currently living/working: I arrived to my sister’s in Connecticut 2/6 and returned to Alaska 3/1, so my “jobs” this month were caregiver & funeral planner. Justin, on the other hand, worked 78 hours…
My mom passed away on Feb. 20, 2026—6 years and 361 days after my dad passed away. Just like with my dad’s death, it was expected. My mom—my anomaly of a mom with her indestructible stamina—had been on hospice for more than 2 years. She spent 4 months in her home in NJ on hospice with me as her primary caregiver, then she moved in with my sister in CT in April 2024, where she spent the remainder of her life. And as our parents’ caregivers for basically the last 7 years, my sister & I are reconciling both grief and relief (side note: parental caregiving and custodial care of my parents’ estate for 7+ years has nearly destroyed my nervous system, but that’s a post for another day).
Currently living/working: January has been a mix of work, winter dormancy & play. I actually clocked 35 hours at the library (let me be clear—for the whole month, which prob seems like a joke according to traditional workers lol). Justin has had lots of things come up for his tourism job in the last week keeping him very busy, such as a completely frozen building that could have been avoided and now he has to deal with those repercussions. The month has felt very full!
I’m going to rewind 2 months to when we spent 8 days in Colorado with Justin’s family for Thanksgiving.
Currently living/working: We returned from travels 12/3 right in time for what became the coldest December on record since 1989! Temps around our area are erratic, and we live on a hill, which puts us in a banana belt of Healy. So our lowest was -35.5, but that same day, we went over to a friend’s cabin 3 miles away and their analog thermometer was recording -60!