Observations on quality time with my 84 year old father, day 24

• My Uncle – “Your father has been confusing his personal history with the movie ‘Matawan’ for 25 years. He has no idea what the truth is.”

• Listening to satellite radio in the car and Pilot’s “It’s Magic” comes on. I remember how much my Cousin Miltie loved that song.

*Me – “Dad, ya ever hear from Cousin Miltie?”
*Dad – “Nope. No idea whatever happened to him. Didn’t like his wife though.”

He’s skipping the part where he asked Miltie to do him “a favor” after his federally paid vacation and he didn’t come through. At that point he cut ties with him.

In the 70’s Miltie was in his 40’s. He had bell bottoms that didn’t need a belt, white patent leather shoes, tinted sunglasses, a pinky ring and a comb over. He would pick up chicks at singles bars in Sheapshead Bay, smoke pot, snort coke, pop pills and have a grand old time. He had a skinny girlfriend named Sandy who worked on her tan as if she was getting paid for it. They dated for years but when they finally got married it fell apart in just a few weeks. Lord knows what she found out about Miltie but he spent the next few months on the beaches of Miami and came back to New York broke. My dad took him in and he lived with us for about a year. The kids loved him. When my parents would go out they’d leave Miltie to watch us. When they took my sister off to college in September of ’76, they were gone for about three days, but not to worry: Miltie would watch us! We had a massive teenage party which Miltie joined about 3AM. He would tell us stories about anal sex and could handle a bong with aplomb. At some point in the story he would look at you and say “Am I right?” We didn’t exactly want to grow up to be Miltie, but he was a gas nonetheless. Last I saw him was in the mid-80’s at a family wedding and we carried on just like the old days.

What did my dad ask Miltie to do? I’d bet something illegal. Am I right?

• My dad has the most conflicting relationship with prescription drugs. On the one hand he won’t take much of what his endless doctors prescribe to him, for fear of the side effects. On the other hand, if you tell him something works for you and he has the same ailment, he wants one. My ears get stuffed up easily, and since I moved to Seattle in ’91, I have allergies that no doctor has been able to pinpoint. As my dad has been having similar problems I mentioned that it may be hereditary and perhaps the same meds would work for him that work for me? As he’s on all sorts of drugs, I gave him a print out from the web description that listed all of the side effects and warnings. Not only did he not read it but he said “Ok, give me one.” His cavalierness shocked me. He’s completely comfortable with taking prescription drugs not prescribed to him. This morning, I couldn’t find my prescription. I’m not accusing him, but I’m just saying…

© Curt Weiss 2014