Old Thoughts

I've spent some time today thinking about my dad. He died nearly 5 years ago, and I miss him more than I ever imagined I would. I remember wondering if I could live with this loss. I have, but I know that some days are just harder to endure. I'll hear an airplane and immediately I'll be sucked back in time when we would see him flying over the house, wagging his wings to let us know he was on his way home. I remember vividly the first time I went up in an airplane with him. He just bought a Cessna 140 taildragger and took me for a short flight and landed on a very bumpy airstrip. It was heaven to me. That was in the mid 1960's.

What makes me think about him so much is that I have two good friends who have a parent in terminal condition. I believe this week one of them will pass away. I feel so bad for my friends, both of them. This journey of long-term illness is so very hard to handle. You want so badly to make your parent feel like they've been able to keep their dignity while you take care of their most intimate needs. You feel overwhelmed at the responsibility and guilty because you scream inside that this just isn't fair. Well, Virginia, life just isn't fair. I will continue to pray for my friends while they deal with all the physical and emotional events ahead.

The puppy is loosing teeth now. We noticed the top front teeth looked new, sort of like a rabbit's teeth, then we could see the bottom front were coming in. Ick. At least, maybe, his bites won't be like a pin cushion stabbing your hands, feet or other body parts. He's getting closer to "that" day. The vet said all his teeth need to be new for the surgery. Teeth must be a tell-tale to his maturity. So far the hardest thing to do to him is putting on the flea control. It takes tackling him and holding him down while another of us puts on the liquid. Sheesh, what a baby! It's not like we were trying to clip his nails, but that is another thing needing to be done. And thankfully, there are other days ahead.