I have received a few comments lately about not posting a ton of Japanese photos on Facebook, or here, or otherwise. Where's the rest of the photos? I was asked this yet again on Saturday, and decided I'd better explain why I have not posted more images.... and why I'm not going to post anymore here, or there, or anywhere.
JB and I came home from Japan, and after staying two weeks with our Japanese Hosts, it was our turn to show them around Utah and surrounding areas for two weeks. We went to Yellowstone, and Jackson, and Park City, and Salt Lake. We had a marvelous time, made a lot of memories and of course I took a ton of photos. We dropped our Japanese guests off at the airport on August 14, came home to a fairly neglected house, garden, and dog. Fatdog's nails hadn't been trimmed for quite some time, so the morning of the 15th I took her to Petsmart for her pedicure. She has had her nails trimmed there since she was a pup, and usually by the same lady (we will call her DM) who trimmed Rosie's nails, and any way we have known this woman for going on 6 years. So I asked DM how her summer was going, and she proceeded to tell me how her 15 year old daughter who had been diagnosed with a mental health disorder a few years ago had decided it's OK to stop her medication, had attempted suicide, had been in and out of treatment for the last 5 weeks, had racked up over $40K in hospital/mental health facility bills in the last 2 weeks, and she has no idea how she's going to pay it because she is the primary worker in her family and her main source of income is working part time as a groomer at Petsmart. She also told me her daughter began attacking family members and she had to call the police to have her daughter arrested, and so forth. After about 20 minutes of listening to a heart felt, emotion filled scouring of her soul, she tearfully asked if I did anything fun over the summer. I didn't know how to answer. I stammered something about hanging out with a few friends, and quickly changed the subject. It just seemed like bragging to say "Ummm, yeah, my 14 year old, beautiful, healthy daughter and I took off traveling the world and eating great food and just had the trip of a lifetime for the last month, and it was OK because my husband has a really great job so the process of saving money for a year to afford the cost wasn't that big of a deal, and now my awesome, brilliant, kid is starting school at one of the most prestigious high schools in the state..."
Anyway, the experience completely sucked the wind from my sails, and I have no desire to post anymore pictures of my travels. I do however still back them up to Flickr. So, if you really want to see them, you can find them here:
Photos of Japanese Adventure: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tlcbull/sets/72157646112037901/
Photos of American Adventure: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tlcbull/sets/72157646477359110/
And if you have any prayers available, DM and her family could certainly use them.
1 comment:
Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear about your friend and I'd love to look at your pics through Flicker instead.
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