5 posts tagged “dad”

My sister Marianne and her husband Randy both got laid off and obviously that makes paying the bills a little difficult.  This week they and the three little ones that I adore and their 3 boxers moved into my dad's.  My dad has lived alone since I moved out six years ago and since then he has gotten really set in his ways and wants everything as exactly how he likes it.  I was wondering how it was going to go. 

Two nights ago I got a phone call:

Me: Hello?

Dad: mKc?  I was just calling to tell you that I am surrounded by little people.

And then in the background I heard an eruption of giggles and happy shrieks.  Then Dad giggled.  He GIGGLED.

Me: How do you like it so far?

Dad:  This is the first time in the last six years that I've come home from work and the house hasn't been quiet as a tomb.

I could actually HEAR him smiling.  Wouldn't you be?  If you lived with these guys?

 

 

 

 

I'd like to say thank you to all the people bravely serving our country right now and to all those who have done so in the past.  In honor of that, I'd like to post some photos of my favorite veteran from back in the day, you know before he had three daughters and we made him bald!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Dad.  For being the bravest man I know.

 

I have been away from the computer lately because my sisters and I have been planning a big 60th birthday party.  My dad is not the kind of guy who ever treats himself, he lives so modestly and sometimes I want him to have some of the comforts that he's earned, like a nicer car, a house in a better neighborhood and you know, clothes that weren't bought in the 1992.  We have been working on replacing the clothes but it takes a special occasion before he wears them.  So I wanted him to have a big party with lots of family and old friends who love him, good music and lots of beer.  The husband and I have been working to get the house ready, my oldest sister made tons of delicious food and the middle child helped me clean.  The party was last night and it was a huge success.  I made him a picture slideshow of his whole life and a mix CD of all these songs my sisters and I remember him fancing around the house to when we were little.  I also bought him some jean shorts and plan on sneaking over to his  to throw away his old ratty ones.  Here is the photographic evidence...

 

Daddy's girls.

 

 

Me and my momma with  her gorgeous hair that I did not inherit.  (She and my dad are good friends even though they are divorced.)

 

 

Preggy McPreggerson...

 

 

My baby brother (not my Dad's son but he may as well be) and Preggy

 

 

This is my Little Man...he follows dad around but sometimes I can get his attention.

 

 

This is at about 11 pm and the drinks were setting in on my Pops.

 

 

A little air guitar for my husband and uncle.

 

 

The drinks were setting in on them too.

 

 

My sister is getting used to be the sober girl at the party and my Dad is getting used to having to stop smoking when she comes in the room.  In this picture, they are singing Silver Springs.

 

 

Lights out for the older folk.

 

 

The morning after.  I snuck in right when he was opening his eyes for the first time, it probably wasn't very nice of me to use the flash though huh? (I made him sleep in the spare room on the itty bitty bed.)

Overall he said it was the best birthday he ever had.  Mission Accomplished.

Father's Day is easily one of my favorite holidays.  It's nice to get to see all of my family and all of Jay's family and spend time together.  But mostly I love it because I love my Dad.  My Dad is the kind of person that other people should try to be, he's loving and wise and so so so self-sacrificing.  He's also funny as hell.  Here's a look at some of my favorite photos of him.

 

Yes that's me all bald and stuff.

 

 

He can rock a drum set, too.

 

He cleans up nicely.

 

 

Yep, he's my favorite human.

This is my Dad; he's 59 years old.  He worked in an automotive factory for 31 years and he has rough weathered hands.  He was drafted into the army and sent to Vietnam when he was 19.  He's a selfless, generous single father.  He has also smoked for nearly 45 years and he has emphysema.

Back in late March he was was put into the hospital because he was having an "occurence."  This is what they call it when the disease starts trying to kick your ass because you have irritated it.  He was in the hospital for two weeks.  During that time, he was on oxygen and went through nicotine withdraw.  During this time, they found a spot on his lungs on an x-ray and they decided to give him a biopsy.  A lung biopsy is a tricky thing because its like sticking a needle into an inflated balloon. 

During biopsy, the collapsed his lung.  The stuck a tube in him to inflate his lung and sent him back to his room.

 

A few days later, they changed his tube.  They didn't secure it properly and it fell out but nobody noticed.  I happened to be arriving at the hospital when he was having a hard time breathing.  It was a drastic change from the condition that I left him in the night before.  I hit the emergency button.  What happened next was a flurry of nurses, respiratory therapists, my dad calling out for help, medical people being unhelpful and me being really pissed and my sisters crying.  When the doctor finally got there the ICU team was there, his lung had fully collapsed and they had to cut into him right there without giving him an anethesia.  My two older sisters and I were in the hallway and heard him screaming bloody murder the whole time they were working on him.  The whole thing sucked.

After he got out of the hospital, my Dad came to live with me and my hubby for three weeks while he recooperated.  During this time he did not smoke; his color was great, he could breathe easier.  By this time, all the nicotine was out of his system and he was not suffering from any physical cravings or withdrawal. 

He went home.  After a few weeks, he began smoking again, not as much as before but that offers me no comfort.  I can't describe accurately the many ways that this angered me and broke my heart.  My dad is the center of my family, he has always been the steady ground beneath my feet, my safe place.  What this disease is doing to his health, what he is doing to his health by continuing to smoke makes me sick.  I hate to sound like one of those teenagers on the Stand commercials but if you are smoking, please stop.  I guarantee that even if you are not sick now, you could be and even though its not affecting anyone else now, you will be breaking someone else's heart in the future.  I have to stop myself from obsessing about ways to get him to stop (we've tried chantix, the patch, the gum, hard candy.)  But he has to make that choice.  I so wish he would.