I think the absence of a bit of narrative, and the skipping of a week's post, did cause me to think the difficulties were greater, although losing a grandmother is not easy at all. Having a very sick child is pretty difficult too, they are so helpless seeming, and sometimes we feel helpless too.

I just remembered the time one of my daughters was so very sweet while she was sick, and so very rude once she got better, that I actually said to her "I liked you better when you were sick." !!!! Parenting fail! She loves me still, at the ripe old age of 33, so it's OK, but boy did I make some bad moves with my kids.