Parents

Things are looking up. My phone call to my dad tonight lasted a whole seven minutes and 46 seconds! That's wonderful for us. He had a nice day today and was glad to hear that I had gotten Kia walked this evening before the rain began. I told him that the forecast is for very heavy rain tonight, and that forecasters have warned that trees may become uprooted and fall from the saturated ground.

I had been to the dentist this morning, so I told him about that, and Dad offered to help pay for the work I had done. He's been so generous to offer to help me in any way that he could the last few years, since I became disabled. He wanted me to keep my house in Boone, and he would have made the mortgage payments for me, but I felt it was more sensible - and more honorable -  to sell and buy a smaller place closer to home, one that I could afford without a mortgage.  He says, "Well, you're the only child I've got." I told him tonight that he needed four or five kids at this stage of his life. He'd be a lot less lonely. He laughed and said he didn't think he could handle that many. He's very much a loner.

Dad looked great when I saw him yesterday. I went home for the day to take my mom out to lunch and to the grocery store and then to visit Dad at the nursing home. He had on chino pants and a blue and white striped shirt. Very stylish. He wanted to know if I had brought the dog, but I had not because it was too warm to leave her sitting in the car. Dad was so happy to see the three bags of Hershey's kisses that I brought him. I told him, "Now these need to last three days," and he laughed, so I knew he got the joke, which doesn't always happen. He has a sweet tooth, my dad, and he will go through the candy too fast, but not that fast.

I took my Mom out to lunch and to the grocery store. We long ago settled the question of who pays the check. She looked beautiful in mint green pants and a top that her friend Nancy had given her for Christmas. The color went so well with her hair, which is the color of pewter. She left the house carrying her white cane with the red tip - the type of cane that's carried by the blind. Mom is legally blind from macular degeneration, although she can still see a bit. She hasn't been able to drive for about two years now. I think having to give up driving has been the biggest challenge she's ever faced because it has meant she lost her independence. She is now totally dependent on other people for everything all the time. And my family is not a giving, loving family. No one offers to help. My aunt has her hair done every Friday by the same woman who cuts Mom's hair, but she has never once offered to take Mom along so that Mom could get hers done, too. That's typical, just an example. So we get by with just me, friends, and a volunteer group called Caregivers that provides transportation for the elderly at minimal cost. No family.

We had a lovely lunch. It was a short-sleeve day, much more like April than March, but Mom was freezing the whole time. Of course that didn't stop her from drinking iced tea with her lunch. We are Southern, after all. We enjoyed our time together so much. We talked about our beloved Becky, who passed away on Friday night, and many other, happier things.

Some trips are very hard and unpleasant, sometimes I come home and cry, but yesterday was a piece of cake. A few precious moments with each parent, each doing well, looking good, acting happy. A return to Kia, who had handled being left alone for an extended period perfectly and two cats who met me at the door. That makes this a rather boring post. Just a simple day appreciating God's simple gifts.