Talk of the Mothman or Mokele-Mbembe curses aside, I find myself in the midst of some times that have me reeling and beyond my understanding.

My stepsister Shelley Atkins, 57, who was diagnosed with bone cancer less than two weeks ago, died around 7:30 pm, last night, June 9, 2008, in southern California. Shelley was also within my kinship tree as a cousin. (My mother’s second husband was my mother’s first cousin’s widower husband, and thus the children who were my mother’s second cousins then became her stepchildren – and by extension, my stepsiblings.)

Shelley’s death follows my mother’s sudden death on April 9, 2008, in Riverside, California.

After my mom (Anna Atkins) died, as mentioned before, my younger brother Bill suffered kidney failure and other life-threatening health concerns. He was in the hospital, near death, for two weeks. He’s not out of the woods yet, even though he’s at home.

My youngest brother Jerry, who has written two Fortean books of some import, was diagnosed with throat cancer on April 25, 2008. Although he was supposed to have had an operation to remove his lymph nodes and more from his throat by now, it’s been delayed to check out his heart.

Death news clusters, I guess.