Observations on quality time with my 84 year old father, day 16:

• Driving with dad:
o Dad – “Make a left turn here.”
o Me – “I can’t.”
o Dad – “Why not?”
o Me – “Because I’ll drive into that building.”
o Dad – “That’s a stupid place to put a building.”

• After Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move” comes on the radio, he reminisces:
o Dad – “This song brings me back to the west village. Every once in a while I went to this bar with some friends. I didn’t drink much, but sometimes we’d just hang out there after work. Robert DeNiro used to hang out there too.”
o Me – “Were you married yet?”
o Dad – “Yeah, I was about 32 (note: this song came out in 1971 when he was 41). Somehow I got into something with someone and the bouncer threw me out. I don’t want to tell you what I was doing there. Heh, heh. Let’s just say your father isn’t perfect.”

Really? Every day brings new surprises with him.

• As much as he doesn’t listen to any doctors, ironically, he still believes there’s a medical solution for all ailments. It just needs to be of his own discovery. As TV Guide isn’t widely available anymore, he has to read ads and articles somewhere else. Sometimes he just invents memories. His present invented memory/obsession is with stem cell therapy:
o Dad – “I met a doctor at the gym who saved his wife’s life through stem cell therapy.”
(As I’ve mentioned before, it’s always trouble when any statement of his starts out with some version of “I met a guy at the gym”)
o Me – “Dad, they won’t take her in any clinical or experimental program. She’s got too many other issues and she’s too old.”
o Dad – “We don’t have to tell them that other stuff.”
o Me – “Do you actually think they’re not going to notice the dialysis port in her neck?”

I really need to memorize the Serenity Prayer…

© Curt Weiss 2014