@Dreamy 

There was a short video in the course that I'm doing about trauma.  It said that humans are pretty good at dealing with trauma... the problem comes with the loss of a feeling of safety after if there is no support received.  He used the example of a child bitten by a dog.  Usually the parent/s will pick the child up, tend the wounds, and comfort them.  The child may become a cat person, but they maintain a sense of being safe because the parent gave them that.  So there is little long term emotional damage from a traumatic event.  So it's not the traumaic event itself that does the damage, but the lack of support resulting in a loss of feeling safe after the even that causes the damage.  Coping mechanisms are formed to feel safe and they become a normal part of the behaviour.  Eventually though these become detrimental to our development because we come to rely completely on them for any sense of safety.  It made a lot of sense to me.  As someone who has dealt with far more trauma, I'm just curious to what you think.  You don't have to answer if course, I know your dealing with a lot and may not be in the mood for thinking about these things

I do want to thank you for your kind words.  I really appreciate it.  The same for listening to all my rants and whinges.  I do feel like you're the last person I should be complaining to, but you understand so much.

Life is never dull at your place is it?  Seriously though, I hope everything is okay.  I know better than to ask for details but I know you have so much thrown at you recently that it's hard not for people to be concerned about how you're coping.  So I hope the calls weren't about anything new going badly you have to deal with