Janet I am so sorry.
Huge hugs to you.

All the best to you and your family, Janet. Glad your step-son is in a supportive place. In case it helps to know, I have seen young adults need to stumble around a bit as they first learn how to manage a mental illness and then become more reliable about the treatment follow through and family communication that helps keep the bottom from dropping out. There is room for hope, as hard as this is right now.

Very sorry that your trip is off the table for now. I understand that disappointment.

Oh Janet, I'm so sorry to hear this. Sometimes life dumps a pile of garbage on us all at once. It seems to happen even to the best of people.

I'm sending you Christmas hugs and good wishes. Everything will work out eventually. You have lots of support here. xo

Thanks again!

The latest is actually encouraging. Stepson was much more himself talking with his dad on the phone today -- he is now mostly feeling bad that this has caused plans to be disrupted. My husband will get to see him tomorrow, and maybe get a sense from the doctors what the prognosis is. My stepson seems to be responding to the meds already, which is good.

There is a chance, albeit a small one, that we might be able to work something out so we can still take our trip -- some friends may be able to help stepson while we are away. We haven't cancelled the flight and hotel yet. Not sure if we'll feel comfortable enough leaving when the situation is still tenuous, but we have a couple of days to feel out the situation and decide accordingly.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and wishes.

It would be wonderful if you could take the trip with an easy mind. I hope everything works out for you and your DH.

So sorry Janet. My good news seems so wimpy stacked up against what you have to deal with. I hope you can take your trip--it sounds like you need to get away.

I don't know what it is about the holidays but for some reason difficult things seem to crop up in people's lives. I went through a very difficult period 10 years ago during this time and I have struggled to move on from it. This year I was determined to try harder to be more upbeat. However friend's of mine lost their daughter last week who was 10 years old . Right now it is a unexplained death, she had a fever for two days and died in her Father's car on her way to the ER ! Simply heartbreaking. The family have been amazing and held a wonderful celebration of her life last week which I attended.
I came home and decided that I need to appreciate what I have ,smile more and stop being so grouchy as we never know what is around the corner.

Huge hugs, these things seem to come in waves don't they.. Every time two things go wrong, I laugh and say, ok give me the third one so we can be done...

To share something good... My husband made the difficult choice of leaving a company with people he loved that felt like a family due to toxicity from the owner that trickled down.. He has been with his new company for one year and has had the best success... Leaving that company was so hard last year, but now a year later and he is tickled at the new job... In fact he just made Salesman of the Year and that was only with leaving management in August... With most of October off.. He kicked butt! The owner is in shock..He predicts my husband to sell a million dollars in sales next year..Not unrealistic as he did $400,000 this year! That would double the already fantastic income...We actually could get back into retirement savings that had been destroyed when the economy took a down turn! IT's been a tough 7 years, but things look to be turning around... All due to one brave step of leaving a company and people he loved...

Janet, Just thinking about you...I can only imagine how disappointed you are...I am also a big believer in things happen for a reason...I always try to decipher the reason as time unfolds after a big disappointment...Hugs to you..

Hey there. Hang in there. One thing I do when I have a down day is find a funny show, a comedy and watch a few episodes. It helps, even if it's temporary.

I am late in getting to this-(( I am so sorry to hear that your stepson is going through a very difficult patch right now, Janet (mental illness is extremely rough on both the person suffering from it and their family). It's a relief to hear there's been some positive improvement already, and I hope that, even if you have to postpone your trip and the holidays are turning out very differently than anticipated, you'll still be able to enjoy time spent with your family and friends.

I am thinking of you, and sending tons of positive vibes.

Janet just popped back and so glad to hear that your stepson is doing better. I noted that his mum appears to be overly involved? Well he is blessed to have his Dad's and your love and care. I have no doubt your in his life for a reason.

Hugs, Janet. What a stew!

We have been looking at an on-again off-again trip for this whole month with work repeatedly threatening to have our noses to our computer screens right until next week in some more dire predictions. And one of our colleagues, in our tiny team of six, just probably lost his dad unexpectedly yesterday (may be on life support but not clear, no hope either way, cancer) and had to fly out. So yeah, sometimes it is just ridiculous... Worse when you are looking forward to peace and joy and merriment.

On the flip side, we will be home on Christmas day and we managed to put up a tiny fake and very silly tree, and if nothing else, the tot has 12 books waiting for him for the 12 days of Xmas, and we can do at least a 2-night trip by the end of the year, which is a rare blessing as one of our preferred hotels was able to switch us to a 30-31 December booking, which is a rare enough gift this year.

And now, with Peri's little nugget of wisdom, I am very kicked to tell little Aman, the reindeer are girls! Because his 12 books were chosen especially with female protagonists in mind, since I noticed recently that all his books have mostly default male protagonists... Be it a bird, a plane or an imaginary friend, they were all 'he'. Ties in beautifully to this year's Solstice theme for us!

Janet I am so sorry you have these challenges right now! Give yourself permission to be sad or low and just go with it. Sometimes it feels good to just sink into your circumstances. Then when brighter days come (and they will) you will be all the more grateful and happy. Have a merry Christmas dear Janet!

Thinking of you and hoping that things are on a good track as 2015 begins.

Thank you, all!

A little update: Things are going much better. Stepson is out of the hospital and settled in to his new home (sharing a house with two friends -- they had signed the lease just a couple of weeks before all this happened, so he hadn't even moved in yet), and is doing well. He has his slightly off moments, but is definitely getting back on track. He is completely aware that going off his meds was a bad idea and is determined to stick with it in the future and keep following doctor's orders. We're breathing a sigh of relief. Oh, and we're pondering vacation ideas for later in the winter to make up for our lost Belgium trip -- maybe we'll do that next Christmas!