I’m taking a couple of days off from work. Today is the third anniversary of my mom’s death. It hits me harder than my brother’s and my father’s passing (all three died within an eighteen month period.) I’ve worked the last two years on this day and regretted it. So far, I’m feeling well. While 2002’s events are not at the forefront of my thoughts, I’ve had lucid dreams/nightmares about my family all week. Whenever I dream about them, almost invariably it’s about one of them dying and the family coping with the loss. It’s almost always out of sequence with how the actual events unfolded. Say, Mom dies first and Dad and I have to deal with it. Or Dad dies and my brother and my mother have to prepare the funeral arrangements and such. Or sometimes Dad contracts cancer and beats it this time around… The events always happen in the same house, the house I grew up in–not the house we lived in for nearly ten years when the events actually happened. This week’s selection of dreams has been no different, maybe a bit more surreal.Still, I’m not depressed. I was last year and the year before. Things are pretty good now. I’m thinking about fixing an omelet and watching some Penn & Teller on Charter on Demand. I’ll probably not take these days off next year. I’ll save them for Botcon.