My Year So Far
“I am human, and, yeah, I have very bad days.” –Charlize Theron
2026 has been a clusterfuck both globally and personally. I feel uniquely unqualified to comment on the behavior of our government, so I’ll stick to the personal. January was meant to be my chance to spend time with my new granddaughter and to that end I agreed to cat sit in Chicago for two weeks. As soon as I settled into this glamorous mansion right by the Viagra Triangle so named because it is the hunting ground for older men seeking younger dates, I started to cough like a dying person, to cough like someone you would prefer to avoid. I was shunned by the new parents, chastised for trailing after them to sit at a separate table at Gibsons, gazing forlornly at the lump that was fast asleep in her stroller.
photo by Annie Nyle
On returning to Northern Michigan, having done nothing but cough alone, feeding a very old cat, I went to have my eyes checked and was informed I had a detached retina and would need immediate surgery or blindness in my right eye would ensue. After surgery the following day, I was ordered to lie flat on my stomach daily for six hours. After my saintlike (more about that later) husband bought me an iPad, I watched very bad television through the hole in a borrowed massage table. Driving, swimming, and sleeping on my back were forbidden.
This situation lasted for ten days until I was deemed safe for driving but no swimming and there was the added bonus of a gas bubble in my right eye that made it hard to see properly resulting in fun events like my pouring milk meant for coffee all over the counter and several collisions with the wall. Driving seemed like a bad idea especially since we received three feet of snow and the roads were unploughed. Also, I had no peripheral vision on my right side and the blinding white of the snow-covered landscape was not good for the affected eye. The gas bubble started to shrink but also to bounce which reminded me of those sing-alongs when they would say, “Follow the bouncing ball.” I did not.
Meanwhile, the political misery increased. I am in a politically divided marriage and while we have survived twenty-two years of neutrality, sort of, the current events caused a flurry of savage arguments and the question whether it is possible to remain married when you believe your partner’s beliefs are totally insane. For now, we will only say “we hope so.”
The bubble is gone. I am reading books to a bewildered baby on Facetime courtesy of my good son and my husband, and I have agreed to attempt a total cone of silence. I will continue to protest, he will do whatever people like him do to support their lunatic beliefs and we will, unlike our current administration, rely on diplomacy and mutual respect to avoid dangerous topics.
–Molly Moynahan