Wind in your hair

His movements now are slow and deliberate. There are days that he barely has the strength to get out of his favorite chair, and then there are days when he wants to go out for lunch and then walks laps around the house with his walker. He cannot bathe himself anymore, he can't shave himself, and can barely fix himself a bowl of cereal. His care has become all-consuming for my mother.

I had been gone to the Outer Banks with Joey and Monkey Man for a week - we got back Friday, I dumped some clean clothes into the suitcase and turned right back around and headed to my parents' house. I decided to drive our new toy down in the hopes that it would give my dad a chuckle at least for a moment.

When I arrived, he was dressed in an old stained t-shirt and shorts and looked like he hadn't shaven in days. He really didn't move around much at all. I sat by his side, talking to him about our vacation and joking about Monkey Man's latest exploits. He offered a few comments but was mostly silent. I worry when he is quiet.

Yesterday morning, he was dressed and had his hair combed when he came plodding out from his bedroom with the walker. He wanted to go out for breakfast, and he wanted my mom to follow us in her car. He ate sparingly, and started to look tired. I offered to take him back home so my mom could run errands in town unencumbered by worrying if he was bored or hot waiting for her.

I put the top down. And decided to go home via the highway so we could get a little wind in our hair. At one point I looked over and he had a faint smile on his face, looking so cool with his baseball cap on and his Ray Bans covering his eyes.

We got home, where he sat in the living room and talked to me about local gossip and family dynamics and money and all kinds of things. He walked at least 10 laps around the house, and then used some recumbent bicycle thing he got from the physical therapy place. He announced that he wanted to go to church on Sunday. I said fine, knowing that each day brings different challenges and that he probably wouldn't be up for going.

He never ceases to amaze me. He got up this morning, gave himself a shower and shave, and fixed himself a bowl of cereal. He's not dressed for church yet, but that will come since it's still early.

"Today is going to be a really good day!" he crowed as he plodded through the house.

I'll take all of the good days that I can get. I'm just glad I got to be here to see a few of them, because they are few and far between.