I had a great evening with mom and dad we talked for 3 or 4 hours. I feel so blessed to have this final time with dad, it would be so hard to lose him suddenly as happens to many families. To have this time to talk, joke and even argue is important, these moments I will remember the rest of my life. Dad seems almost normal to me these days, he is thin and weak but his mind remains sharp, his voice is strong, his memories are often better than mine or moms. Tonight dad told me of a dream he had when he was younger, to open and run a restaurant. Dad was always into cooking (he was a cook for men in a lumber camp at 16), I know the food in his restaurant would have been first rate. Today he told me how he always liked to make the food look good, how the presentation was as important as the taste. When he was a cook at a Edmonton food restaurant years ago, he used to take extra care to make everything look just right.
I have employed a bit of motivation for dad, something that will encourage him as family was always so important to dad, he put his kids first always. Dad and I share a common birthday, it has been a special thing for me and him my entire life. The last birthday he was 82 and I was 50, the next will be 83 and 51. In the past many times through the years we used to share a common birthday cake. Often it would be in a open book design, on one page it would say happy birthday to me, on the other happy birthday to dad. This last year we bought him a cake that just had his name on it not mine. The first thing that dad said on seeing it was "Where is Gerry?" He was disappointed that I was not on the cake with him. I told dad a few weeks back that if he can reach 83 then we will buy a shared common book style birthday cake with both our names on it this time around. I think that might have inspired him a bit, that and the fact he is a fighter who does not give up and he wants to reach his next birthday. He might just fight a bit harder so we can share that common cake together as father and son one last time. That sort of thing is important to my father. Over the last few weeks dads appetite has been great, he eats and eats and eats some more. Mom even said that he had gained 11 pounds from 134 to 145.
I hope we can share that special birthday cake one last time. Still it is so long from now, almost 4 months. Here is a photo from our past, a photo of me as a little boy with dad and one of those dual cakes, I was I think 4 years old dad 36. If there is anyway a man by pure will alone can stay alive a little longer to share one more birthday with his son, I know my father will do that for me, for us.
Anyway it was a beautiful day with mom and dad, I will miss these so much. Now it's back into the darkroom to print the show. Dad agreed to be photographed again with the 8x10 and 5x7 cameras, I told him I would do it the next time I am off work after mom dyes his hair. I might use one of those photos in the Exposure photo festival exhibition.
I have employed a bit of motivation for dad, something that will encourage him as family was always so important to dad, he put his kids first always. Dad and I share a common birthday, it has been a special thing for me and him my entire life. The last birthday he was 82 and I was 50, the next will be 83 and 51. In the past many times through the years we used to share a common birthday cake. Often it would be in a open book design, on one page it would say happy birthday to me, on the other happy birthday to dad. This last year we bought him a cake that just had his name on it not mine. The first thing that dad said on seeing it was "Where is Gerry?" He was disappointed that I was not on the cake with him. I told dad a few weeks back that if he can reach 83 then we will buy a shared common book style birthday cake with both our names on it this time around. I think that might have inspired him a bit, that and the fact he is a fighter who does not give up and he wants to reach his next birthday. He might just fight a bit harder so we can share that common cake together as father and son one last time. That sort of thing is important to my father. Over the last few weeks dads appetite has been great, he eats and eats and eats some more. Mom even said that he had gained 11 pounds from 134 to 145.
I hope we can share that special birthday cake one last time. Still it is so long from now, almost 4 months. Here is a photo from our past, a photo of me as a little boy with dad and one of those dual cakes, I was I think 4 years old dad 36. If there is anyway a man by pure will alone can stay alive a little longer to share one more birthday with his son, I know my father will do that for me, for us.
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| Our Birthday, 1968? |
