Families

they are funny institutions. this week i have been immersed in family stuff. visiting my uncle this week in Chicago because i have a work obligation there related to families involved in Child Protection back here in Minneapolis. it means that i miss a night with my kids and will be away from home. i try hard to avoid this, especially for work, but this particular family is so very dysfunctional that it behooves me to do this. so i fly into Midway tonight, leave with my uncle and go back to this event all day tomorrow. i am not hopeful that we will be able to offer this family the assitance it needs in resolving child custody and care issues. mom has too many unresolved parenting crises, traumatic events in her life that have not even begun to heal; loss, unresolved grief, identity confusion and she has ten kids by at least five different men. the kids all have issues too - behavioral problems, encopresis, incontinence, emotional problems, grief, separation and loss issues for a start. we did not break this family and i am certainly sure that we will not put this one back together. i am not sure that is our job. that is why i am going to Chicago with Mom. we hope to have the family come up with a workable solution to this issue. what do you think?

too bad my sister can't understand the power of family and what it can accomplish. i continue to wait for some kind of response from the court regarding the care of my mother. the longer i wait, the more concerned i get. the more concerned i get the less patience i have with what i already think is a corrupt court process. but then why do i think the process should be fair (read: just)? naivete? idealistis? pollyannaish? how about simple hopeful...and wishful that my mother's life matters enough to someone who cares!