Saturday Morning Phone Call From My Dad

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I just got off the phone with my dad. He is 96 years old and I think we........I should say "he" talked for about 45 minutes.

First of all, I think it is wonderful that someone 96 years old has that much to tell his 65 year old daughter and say it with energy and good humor.

The first thing on his list of things to tell me was about going to the community center this last Friday (yesterday) to play in the "pool tournament." Now, what this means is you play and if you lose the game you have to pay a dime, and if you scratch you also have to pay a dime.

I had to ask what "scratch" meant. I learned it is what you call it when you hit the white ball into a pocket. That is not a good thing. So, if you do that in the tournament you also have to pay a dime. I asked him, "Did you win?" He said, "No!" So, he is out at least a couple of dimes.

However, on top of all this fun, he said they also served a free lunch. I said, "It really pays to be a senior!" He agreed. And, of course, if you know my dad you will soon be learning what he had for lunch. Here was the menu. "Judy, they had shredded beef sandwiches, those little round tomato slices, chips, coffee or pop to drink and cookies for dessert." This is not enough information for my dad to share though. "Judy, I thought they were going to be like sloppy joes, but they were shredded beef and they gave you a really big thick beef sandwich!" My dad loves his food and for those of us who have ever watched him fix his plate we also love his food! He makes it look so good!

He also told me that he did his housework on Thursday so he could be ready to go to the tournament on Friday. He said, "I swept the floor, shook the rugs and mowed the front lawn. Oh, and I wiped up the floor too." He said, "I wanted to have a head start being ready for getting to the center for the tournament."

Then he talked about my sister, Linda and her husband David, and how they are going to drive him down to see his brother Ernie and wife Lil. They are having some health problems and he really wants to go see them. They live in Wisconsin and it will be about a 6 hour drive. He no longer drives that distance himself so this is really nice of Linda and David to help him get there.

I told him we were going to visit Adam and his family this week too. I told him it had been almost a year since we have seen them. We said, "Time sure goes by fast!" And, it does. He said, "Well, Judy, give them all a great big hug for me, will you?" I said, "I sure will!"

Then he talked about some friends of his that he has known for maybe 60 years and how they are in nursing homes now. I asked him what that is like for him and how that must be a really big change. Not only has my dad been independent and active but he has had a group of friends that have done things together ever since I can remember. We talked about the Lifeline things you can buy to wear and click on if you fall. We talked about how adult kids worry about things happening to their parents. We had never had this conversation before.

It was a new kind of conversation. Life changes for everyone. I don't know what I think right now. Perhaps, I don't want to know what I feel.

He left me with these words, "Well, Judy, can you feel the great big squeeze I am giving you now?"

I said, "I can! Bye, Dad, I love you!" He said, "I love you too, Judy!"