Catching Up with Nine of Cups and the Crew

You're probably wondering what's become of Nine of Cups and her crew. We're doing a lot of writing, reminiscing, off-the-wall blog posts and Blue Views, but we're not doing much traveling or sailing lately. It looks as if this trend might continue for awhile. Our time in the States has been fraught with emergency, tragedy, sadness and just plain bad luck. Or perhaps, all that good luck we've had for the past decade is now looking for some pay-back. In a nutshell ...

Marcie came home last February from South Australia to Boston to take care of her ailing mom (86). We didn't think she'd make it out of the hospital with her diagnosis of congestive heart failure, but she did. She recouped, had a relapse due to COPD in April and, while in hospital, fell and broke her hip. We've muddled through surgery and the subsequent rehabilitation process with her. She continues to do well, but is unable to live alone. David finally joined Marcie in April and we are living with Bea in her 2-bedroom apartment not far from Boston.

Midst this turmoil, David's mom (95) was hospitalized and he planned to head out to help her in Las Vegas when she returned home. However, our daughter, Casey, died unexpectedly at that same time in mid-May, leaving four kids, our grandchildren, behind. Things are settling down to whatever normalcy they can, but all of our lives have been thrown upside-down. It's not the end of the world; it just seems like it some time.

Our niece took David's place in Las Vegas to help out her grandmother and mom. But it's not over yet, it seems. We received word that David's sister, sole caregiver for his mom, fell and broke three ribs the other night. David left for Las Vegas on the first available flight and has stayed until Mary recuperates a bit, helping out where he can. He'll return to Boston and Marcie soon. What's next? Lord only knows, but we hope things will begin to turn around soon. Our son has dubbed this “the Spring of eternal suckitude”. We tend to agree.

David plans to return to South Australia in mid-July to check on Nine of Cups and finish up the refrig/galley project. Cups will be complaining about her abandonment soon and David needs to give her a little TLC.

We are fortunate to have a strong family and a good support network to help us through. We've received countless words of condolence and consolation from friends, family, and readers, some of whom we've never even met. These bad times, too, shall pass. We look forward to returning to Nine of Cups and resuming our life of sailing … when the rough seas calm down.