Fathers and Daughters

Justin and Emma made a wonderful breakfast in bed for Keith this morning...

We did dally a bit in the making of that breakfast, so it became a breakfast in bed that was eaten in front of the TV in the living room, but it was the thought that matters, right?

{And that dallying was totally all me}

Emma left for camp this afternoon, which is a funny day to have camp scheduled for but I suppose that nobody says, "hey, let's not schedule camp to start on Father's Day." So, we spent our Daddy time with Emma picking up snackies, picking up lunch, and then waiting at church for the vans.

{and don't forget the sodies}

It was 115 today and the asphalt was a tad toasty.

Ok. Slight exaggeration. It was only 108. But, it felt like it was an oven out there on the tarmac.

After cooling off a bit in the house, I drove over and spent some time with my Dad. With Dad's memory loss, you never know what kind questions you'll be asked or what kind of things he'll remember. When I came in, I saw a magazine that had on its cover the cast of the TV show Dallas, which was a big deal when I was a kid. When I commented on the comeback of the show, he mentioned that they had watched the show. Very unusual for him to know any current events, but, then again, when he saw the commercials for it over at our house, he made notes about it so he'd remember to watch.

Best comment of the evening: when speaking about coming home {presumably from church today}, he didn't recognize where he was "after spending so much time away." He looked at the magazines laying in front of him to confirm that he was, indeed, in the city he thought he was in.

His analytical mind tells him that he is in a vacation home when he doesn't recognize his own house, so he really does feel like he has spent so much time away from home. But when he said that, I just found that statement so cute. Sad, yet cute.

I love my Dad. He is a gentle man who played with us when we were little girls. He always joked around and loved competition in a friendly way. He was always proud of us and we were his favorites. My Dad loves me and I cannot think of a time when I didn't know that.

And now that there is coming a time where he will soon not be able to care for himself.

I want to take care of him.

Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.
~ Bill Cosby