Out with the old...

The last two weeks have been hellacious on a personal level and I’ve been unable to concentrate on anything creative. But I can’t leave 2025 without one last post.

As noted, my brother in San Antonio developed kidney and liver issues and wound up hospitalized. My sister down here has been handling it—insurance, logistics, other family—so I came down to support her. She’ll be the main go-to after I return to Buffalo. 

Initially, we were going to have Christmas at Taos, NM at my niece’s home, but that was canceled. Instead they came down, as did a nephew and his son, and we all had Chinese for Christmas dinner...mine being in the hospital. 

I’m now here through tomorrow night, after staying last night. Ring in the New Year, in style.

My sister and I have been taking turns staying the night in the hospital room, keeping vigil, and that wears you out. There’s a couch meant to be a temporary bed, which she seems able to sleep on, in bits.

I found the best position for me to sleep was in a recliner with the back upright and leg support out. But that wears on your butt, a lot, and you only get a couple hours at a time. 

It took him two procedures and a fair bit of medication to get his kidneys to function properly, again, but he hasn’t been eating and now he’s sleeping nonstop. I considered it a big victory to get a small tub of Wholly Guacamole and some glasses of OJ down him. 

Unfortunately, that also shot straight through him. 

Today we got word he’s eligible for release to a nursing facility, for rehab. Suddenly, I wrote 6 pages about Dair showing Adam the glass portrait he makes of him. It’s like I felt free to start thinking about other things. 

I also realized that Dair comes across as a celibate monk in much of the story, outside of Adam. He kind of wants me to detail his affair with a French doctor, in Paris. And I mean the erotica aspect of it. So I will...along with some others.

I mean, fuck it, why not? He’s not ashamed of being gay or having a rendezvous with an older man. It'll be interesting to see how he approaches it as opposed to Adam. Already in what I wrote about the portrait, he’s a lot more chattery than Adam...and insecure.

The main thing I wanted was to maintain the impact of Dair revealing the portrait to Adam, and I think this does it. 

So next year will, hopefully, be better than this last one and I will get DW in a solid first draft...or second. 

Hopefully.