Why we need to take care of ourselves
I'm on call this weekend. I've already been called out twice on to console and counsel women who have had someone near and dear to them die in unexpected circumstances.
Neither of them were as upset by the deaths they found out about recently as they were overwhelmed by a long string of events that they hadn't "processed," talked-through, or come to understand.
The first family (husband, wife, sister-in-law) was burdened by tangled issues relating to childhood divorce, step parents, estrangement and subsequent codependency.
The second call was on behalf of a woman re-located to this area due to Hurricane IKE. She was informed that her sister's brother-in-law and his children were found dead in their home near the gulf. Apparently they were killed by carbon monoxide from a generator set up indoors. That would certainly upset anyone, but it turns out that she'd been in foster care for most of her childhood, raped by a different sister's boyfriend, singled out for discrimination at work, and designated the "rescuer" by her now-in-the-picture mother AND now-in-the-picture father.
All things considered, I was impressed with her strength and resilience. I encouraged her to continue reaching out for help. She may look "low functioning" to some, but she's working two jobs, working the program that her mother should have worked sooner, and determined to be a good woman.
1 comment:
I think we will hear more of these incidents as people are allowed back into Galveston and adjoining areas.
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