And it can't get up! That was the joke of the oldest brother. He preferred wine while the younger 3 sipped whiskey and smoked cigarettes. The oldest one joked about the commercial for a device that alerted medical pros when a poor but prepared senior citizen was in distress in their home. He would holler in his best southern accent, "Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!" And laugh uproariously. His laugh was famous throughout town.
His friends found him on the floor. He'd been there for days. The old joke was still funny to him, but not his friends. They argued with him and each other till the Capricorn of the bunch just dialed 911.
That was 4 years ago? It's hard to keep up. It all happened so fast, beginning with their mother, affectionately known as Shug, short for sugar. She was no push over, just a true southern sweetheart mom who raised 4 sons pretty much on her own.
We can't even talk about how she fell and there was noone around to pick her up. We can only say it was too devastating for her surviving sons to dwell on. They tried to carry on but each, in his own way, was profoundly crippled by the sudden loss.
Then when the oldest went, the next lost his wife just as suddenly and followed her to the grave like a domino.
The third hung on for a year. As he became more emaciated, unable to pick himself up from multiple falls he told the youngest, the last brother surviving and taking care of him while he worked from home during covid, "I think I'm dying."
Mars has fallen and it can't get up.
This past old moon was really hard for me. Every time I checked the chart for solace, some sort of insight or understanding, there was Mars in Cancer, the location opposite its Capricorn sign of exaltation.
Then the last brother was in the hospital in a medically induced coma, the evening of the growing new Moon. It was advanced to Libra. I was witnessing his 40 something son stroking his forehead, smoothing his hair, calling him Pop. We had only just met. Both he and his wife gave me heartfelt healing hugs.
We all became acquainted while waiting for this last brother, this quietly heroic father, to come out of the coma. Comma? Pause?
* , * , * , * , *
Certainly a very tender new lunar cycle. Mars in Cancer is ruled by the Moon. That's the same as saying the fallen hero is ruled by the family. We could even say nation. Which family is more important? The little one or the big one?
Years ago I repeated often that I was drawn to housecleaning because it was healing to be in the homes of healthy families.
This month i connected on Instagram with a member of my fractured family. It bothers my son that he has so little connection with family. So when I first realized the initial thrill of Instagram was just that, and stopped responding to the notifications, even those of my fun new family contact, I panicked. Would this wonderful healing connection disappear? I scrambled to let her know that even though I was not active on the app I was super excited and still eager to know more about her.
* , * , * , *
Last night I got a text from the last brother's daughter. We have yet to meet, but we talk thru texts. She said her father was finally waking up and smiled when they told him I had been up to see him. I felt so tender!
 |
| New Moon near Venus circled on right. Mars in Cancer in 4th house of home circled at bottom. |
I went out to look and see if the new crescent was visible. It was! I caught Venus first. It's at the beginning of Scorpio now. That's another planet in a difficult period of its cycle. Venus rules in Taurus but is at one of its low points in Scorpio. But there was that lovely new moon,, slender, behind trees. I had to walk down the street to find it. The angle of view is so consequential when there is even a small forest on the horizon.