At the end of my dad's life, the three of us kids were visiting him at the rehab center where he had gone and was later switched to hospice care there. We all lived about a thousand miles away so it was nice to all be there. My niece was there as well. One day dad mentioned that he would really like to have one last taste of black licorice. His mom, he, and I all liked it. The next day he was brought five or six bags of different brands of black licorice. He maybe only managed one or two pieces but it made him happy and it was a simple thing.
The biggest thing was being there. Sometimes the room was full of us. At other times there would only be one or two. The important thing was that we were there.
As an aside - we were all staying in dad's little place in the country. One morning about four a.m. the phone rang. We were all disoriented being away from home and actually hearing a landline with no additional features...like caller ID. None of us made it to the phone in time. A few minutes later as we were gathering our wits, a neighbor called to say dad had called him looking for us...he thought we may have all gone back to our homes. My brother called dad at the facility to find out that dad wanted to know where in the hell we were and to say that he wanted someone to bring him a drink. Mark explained it was 4 in the morning and we would be by in a few hours.
And yes, we did bring him some liquor. My niece said she would have made a liquor run for pop at 4 in the morning had she known.
We still laugh about that. Dad calling his kids in the middle of the night demanding a drink.
Still, it was that we were there and he knew we were there and at that point, what was a drink going to hurt?
Licorice, liquor, and his three kids together getting along is what he wanted and what he got.
The biggest thing was being there. Sometimes the room was full of us. At other times there would only be one or two. The important thing was that we were there.
As an aside - we were all staying in dad's little place in the country. One morning about four a.m. the phone rang. We were all disoriented being away from home and actually hearing a landline with no additional features...like caller ID. None of us made it to the phone in time. A few minutes later as we were gathering our wits, a neighbor called to say dad had called him looking for us...he thought we may have all gone back to our homes. My brother called dad at the facility to find out that dad wanted to know where in the hell we were and to say that he wanted someone to bring him a drink. Mark explained it was 4 in the morning and we would be by in a few hours.
And yes, we did bring him some liquor. My niece said she would have made a liquor run for pop at 4 in the morning had she known.
We still laugh about that. Dad calling his kids in the middle of the night demanding a drink.
Still, it was that we were there and he knew we were there and at that point, what was a drink going to hurt?
Licorice, liquor, and his three kids together getting along is what he wanted and what he got.
I'm your huckleberry.
