All we can hope for is that Blue Eyes’ father feels a little better with us here.
It occurred to Pooh and Piglet that they hadn’t heard from Eeyore for several days, so they put on their hats and coats and trotted across the Hundred Acre Wood to Eeyore’s stick house. Inside the house was Eeyore.
“Hello Eeyore,” said Pooh.
“Hello Pooh. Hello Piglet,” said Eeyore, in a Glum Sounding Voice.
“We just thought we’d check in on you,” said Piglet, “because we hadn’t heard from you, and so we wanted to know if you were okay.”
Eeyore was silent for a moment. “Am I okay?” he asked, eventually. “Well, I don’t know, to be honest. Are any of us really okay? That’s what I ask myself. All I can tell you, Pooh and Piglet, is that right now I feel really rather Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. Which is why I haven’t bothered you. Because you wouldn’t want to waste your time hanging out with someone who is Sad, and Alone, and Not Much Fun To Be Around At All, would you now.”
Pooh looked at Piglet, and Piglet looked at Pooh, and they both sat down, one on either side of Eeyore in his stick house.
Eeyore looked at them in surprise. “What are you doing?”
“We’re sitting here with you,” said Pooh, “because we are your friends. And true friends don’t care if someone is feeling Sad, or Alone, or Not Much Fun To Be Around At All. True friends are there for you anyway. And so here we are.”
“Oh,” said Eeyore. “Oh.” And the three of them sat there in silence, and while Pooh and Piglet said nothing at all; somehow, almost imperceptibly, Eeyore started to feel a very tiny little bit better.
Because Pooh and Piglet were There.
No more; no less.
(A.A. Milne, E.H. Shepard)
Originally posted during National Suicide Prevention Week.
try not to cry on my rainbow 
What are the appropriate condolences when lousy, broken people pass on? I suppose we continue to honor and respect those left behind.
I’m sure her passing will dredge up lots of complicated feelings for BE. I hope he can work through them without you bearing the burden of it. I give you credit for sitting with your FIL in his grief. It would have been understandable if you chose not to do so. That woman put you and your family through a lot. ❤️
Relatedly, I hope you wore your shoes throughout her home. 😉
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I wore all my shoes, all over that house. Lol. That house is like a Time Machine, which was incredibly difficult to deal with, more difficult than I would have thought.
More drama to follow. My younger son called it a shit show. I call it a fucking circus. I cannot believe after nearly 10 years of dealing with BE’s issues, that I’m now dealing with all this. The only good thing, so far, is that my FIL is being mostly kind. We’ll see if that lasts…
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My FIL was kind when he was in shock after my MIL passed. That wore off after about 3- 4 months. After that, although I had never considered her to be much of a buffer, apparently she had been because he started to behave like he forgot how to live in polite society. I hope the kindness train runs longer for you. ❤️
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Oh geez. I hope that doesn’t happen, for BE’s sake. My MIL was never a buffer, she was the instigator, but my FIL wasn’t nice either. He’s pretty impatient and he was telling BE that what irritates him the most is when people chatter on about unimportant things (who gets to decide what is important?) or only talk about themselves, OMG!!! The irony because that is what his beloved wife did, all day every day. We’ll see where this goes. 🤗
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Great story to demonstrate your father-in-law’s situation.
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Thanks, Dave.
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