My Dad’s Journey

 Today I arrived in JFK international airport. I flew on a Boeing 737 on Delta Airlines from Denver Colorado where I live. The flight took three hours and forty minutes. When I landed my nephew Stephen was there to pick me up. We grabbed a lunch at Coastal Kitchen in Bayshore and afterwards he dropped me off at South Side Hospital where my dad was awaiting his heart surgery. The surgery takes place tomorrow in the morning. He was admitted earlier today for prep and last minute tests. He seems to be doing alright. He is definitely nervous and since he acquired an infection years ago he is ultra paranoid about germs. I suppose this is all understandable; especially considering he is eighty-three years old and less than twenty four hours away from heart surgery. Frankly speaking I’m not sure I would not be freaking out myself. It’s one of those life occasions that you really don’t know how you will react until it is truly happening to you. My mom was there and my sister Lisa. Lisa has been doing a lot for both my parents since she retired. Driving them to many appointments and dealing with the health professionals on many occasions. She has been a rock throughout all the preceding events leading up to this surgery. I imagine she is thankful that I flew in this week. As I lay in bed and write this I am certainly not sure if everything will go well tomorrow. We are all hopeful, of course, but the reality is he is having heart surgery at eighty-three years old. The man sharing the room with him just got out of open heart surgery a few days ago and seems to be well on the way to a healthy recovery. Just recently on a visit to see my friend George in Henderson, Nevada I was remiss to consider how much everyone loves my dad; everyone speaks of him in high regard. Everyone except me that is. It’s not that I speak ill of him or don’t like him, but I’m always down on him and his particular ways. (Who doesn’t have particular ways?) I realized as I spoke with George that I had an respect and admiration for a lot of other peoples fathers except my own. So I left    that visit thinking differently about my father and all he has done for me and our family through the years.

He has been a person who is dedicated to his family and loves his family as best he can. Now he may have his faults, but none can deny his longevity of love and honor. He brought to our family a sense of humor and a simple attitude about how to go about life in a no frills way.