The End of a Month

It's not as if I delude myself into thinking the month of April will come and troubles will disappear (like the snow still on the ground here). No, I'm not stupid. Life is full of angles, curves, obstacles. Perhaps if I hadn't been so winter-weary, March would have been little more than an annoyance, a sloppy, muddy slog to the spring thaw. Tulips and daffodils. Opening Day at Fenway. Easter pastels and more salads.But March was filled with....I don't know, crap? It seemed there wasn't a day that didn't bring bad news, either on the international, national, or domestic front or close to home in our troubled little state.Our car was rear-ended at the end of February, on a day that was supposed to be free, relaxing, adventurous. On the spur of the moment, we drove to Marshfield, Massachusetts, intent on seeing the Marshfield General Store, purchased by Massachusetts native Steve Carell and his wife Nancy. We drove into a blizzard (seemed as if there was one every day) and another car slid into ours as we were stopped at a red light. Day: ruined. And as I'm sure you know, even when the accident isn't your fault, there are days and weeks ahead that are irritating and annoying. So it was with us, every day, it seemed.Three weeks after that accident, we were at the collision shop to pick up our car when the car we were in (my father-in-law's) was sideswiped. Yup. Here we go all over again. That was on Friday the 13th, so yeah. Add to that the daily worries that accompany caring for an elderly parent (or in-law).Sad days are remembered in March - the anniversary of one friend's death a year ago and two family deaths - on the same day, memories of difficult and trying times still open and raw, and now, at the very end of this wretched month, I learn that my college friend's son has died at twenty-one, under heartbreakingly tragic circumstances. Almost fitting for March. T.S. Eliot said, "April is the cruelest month," but I disagree.I won't have a blog post in April, as my A to Z Blogging Challenge posts begin tomorrow. They're good and positive! I hope you enjoy them. Play a guessing game, try to figure out what comes next. I'll see you back here in May, always hopeful, forever grateful.