Topics I Can't Listen To

Most of the things Dad talks about are at least sadly funny. However, he has two topics that I just can't listen to.

The first is about his sex life. Now I know that most of what he says is made up from whole cloth, just like his other things. However, it makes me want to put my fingers in my ears and go "blah, blah, blah" so I can't hear him. Too much information...

The other topic that gets next to me is when he talks about his parents deaths. His mother died December 22, 1964 and his father died two weeks later. Dad was at their bedsides both times. In fact, my grandmother died at my house. That was before the days of hospice programs. Everyone knew MamaGrandee was dying of bladder cancer, and the doctors could do nothing more for her. Since Mom and my aunt (Dad's sister) were both R.N.s, they took turns caring for her. They rented a hospital bed and other equipment and put her in my brother's bedroom. He had to share the room with me for a couple of weeks before she died.

Monday night Dad asked about why he hadn't seen his parents in a long time. Mom explained to him that they were dead and had been dead for 40 years. Dad said that no one had told him they were dead, and no one told him about their funerals. He started crying (which I had seen only once before in my life) and saying that he loved them very much and that he missed them. It really got next to me, especially since I don't think he ever told his parents that he loved them. It's tragic that 40 years after their death he could finally say out loud that he loved his parents.