she's gone

I'm headed to the Midwest this week to visit my family of origin. My baby brother, my baby sister, niece, nephew. Thinking about family from many angles. I would like to be hermetically sealed off from wanting family or community in my life. I don't know what people are for but I sure wish I would stop yearning to connect with them.

My mother is spending a week at my sister's. A few weeks ago, some doctor declared that mom has dementia. It's interesting to watch my family cope with mom's decline from a distance. Mom has had dementia for a few years now but my siblings have struggled to accept it. Then when some stranger, a new doctor, gives mom the stamp of dementia, suddenly my siblings have accepted it. Mom is gone, they say. Just now my sister said that the person I am angry with is gone.