For the last three weeks I have been tending house while my wife, Rohini, has been away in India taking care of her mother. I can empathize with her guilt and her pain as she heads home leaving her mom in a delicate health condition. The tradeoffs are not particularly fair, but part of life’s many twists. We have lived in the US for most of our adult lives, but left our parents and families behind.
I have suffered through my own personal losses and their impact on my life is difficult to capture in words. “Life is about choices,” was the sage advice from one of my professors many years ago. I wish the choices were simpler. And the answers easier.
An arduous 18 hour flight will bring her home, to the comfort of her own sanctuary and our home. I know the next few weeks will be challenging as she recovers from her emotional and physical exhaustion. I have a sense that the impact of her mothers illness will linger and may nestle in her psyche.
The truth? She is the glue that binds our family together. We are just glad she is coming home to us.
About Hemant Rustogi