A friend of mine, Mark Williams, has had a horrific month.

Mark works in Silicon Valley but spends his summer in Tahoe.  He is an actor who does several summer stock plays in Tahoe during his summer break from work (he is a producer and product manager for a dot.com). 

Three weeks ago, Mark just arrived in Tahoe to work on the play when he was called to Los Angeles to be with his brother who underwent surgery.  While with his brother, he received a call from his father in the Phoenix area.  Mark's mother had a stroke and the prognosis wasn't promising.

Mark drove to Phoenix from L.A. and began a vigil that lasted almost a week.  Mark's parents live about 20 miles from the city in a secluded spot in the desert.  His mom wanted to go home to spend her last days, but they couldn't find anyone who would do hospice care that far from the city.

Mark, another brother from Atlanta, and his father spent their days and nights with his Mom.  One day, he and his brother did drive out to the desert to give the house a thorough cleaning.  That was the extent of he being away from his parents.

Mark kept us all informed of his situation via FB.  Some posts were very sad, and some extremely funny.  Then, a week ago, he posted that his Mom had slipped away during the night.  Mark stayed a few more days then he was back to L.A. to bring his brother home from the hospital and then up to Tahoe to prepare for the play.

This morning Mark posted that his father's shop was destroyed by fire.  It made the Phoenix news. 

http://www.azfamily.com/video/geaz-index.html?nvid=376188

Every family has their own trials and tribulations, but Ray Williams certainly has felt the weight of his in one big helping.