So why am I bringing this up?
I was over at my parents house yesterday. I stopped in to "fix" his computer. What I stopped in to fix was very typical of what I usually stop in for: Something stupid. This time it was him all upset because he couldn't figure out why his Windows toolbar was at the top of the screen instead of the bottom. If you know anything about computers you know that it's really nothing. All you have to do is drag it around and you can put it anywhere you want. The trouble this time was his mouse. He had a "garage sale" mouse (it looked like a skull) hooked to his computer, and it was a total piece of crap. If it was anyone else I would have stopped right there and said, "WTF is this? I can't help you until you find me a mouse that works." Not so with my dad... He is very easily offended so I just put up with it.
So what am I talking about this time? Dad's health.
It's no surprise that he's done nothing right with his health all his life. Until recent times he has smoked. That's at least 50 years of smoking--Most of those using non-filter cigarettes (which probably doesn't really matter). In recent history he found out he has emphysema. Funny thing--He wasn't actually diagnosed... Instead, he was in the doctor for shortness of breath (last year I think it was) and the doctor, making some sort of offhand remark, said something like, "Well, your emphysema isn't helping anything." Say what? Until that time no doctor had even mentioned emphysema. In other words, he didn't even know he had it. I'm sure he was diagnosed with it at one time because it was in his file, but apparently the doctor failed to tell him. Nice, eh? Anyway I think it's safe to say his health has been deteriorating.
Until yesterday, it hadn't really hit me how much though.
I had just gotten there and was in their entry hallway and mom says, "Look at your dad's face." I looked at him in that bad light and I saw a very bad-looking, gray-skinned old man. I was kind of shocked. Before I could say anything, she said to him, "Move your glasses." and to me, "Look at his eye." He raised his glasses and showed me a nice black eye. Apparently he had fallen that morning after getting out of bed. I mean right after getting out of bed. He hadn't made it 6 feet. I guess he conked himself on something because she said he bled too. From what I could see looking at his eye it didn't surprise me. I was just glad that she added the "look at his eye" comment when she did because I might have said something about how crappy he looked. He has aged a lot in the last couple of years.
I told Suzie last night when we were sitting in the hot tub talking about stuff that maybe it's time I started working on a eulogy for him just in case. I'm not saying he's going anytime soon, but he just seems like the obvious "next" one to go. History dictates however, that it's rarely the expected one... I figure that even if there's no ceremony and I never use it, I can still put it on here as a blog post.
But that's future... Let's hope it's not too soon.
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