One Year Since Dad Fell

I have not written a blog post here for a year. Not that I was incredibly consistent before, but I was amazed to see I haven't returned to this blog since last March. Perhaps not coincidentally, our 96-year old dad fell and broke his hip last March. 

Dad was vacuuming in the bedroom last March 29 when CVS Pharmacy called. As he turned for the phone, he fell. The hip broke, and thus started a journey of going to the hospital, to transitional care, and then to therapy back at home. The stresses on my mom, sisters, and family added a new dimension to life. Dad worked hard at his therapy but his body was shutting down. He started hospice care on June 17th. On June 23rd, he took his last breaths at their home. 

Dad had a good life (96 years!) and a good death, surrounded with love and family. On the Sunday before he died, we gathered (in shifts) for Father's Day and he was happy. When I asked how he was doing with it all - pain and struggle and hospice care - Dad said, "I've had 96 good years. What more can I ask for?" 

I keep asking for more in my life still. A year ago, we were hopeful that the COVID vaccines would make a big difference in our society's response. We were hopeful that after the January 6th insurgency, there would be a surging movement to support democracy. We were hopeful that positive changes could happen for our society to deal with racial injustice. It seems like the news this past year has been a continual blasting from a fire hose instead, and we're just trying to keep up. I guess I'm still asking for more.

If you are reading this, thank you for being here. I keep learning that no matter how long we live, life is still short. What matters are people who help us along the way. Dad was known to say "Life is good." It took me a while to realize that for him, the phrase did not ignore life's hardships. No, it was spoken as an affirmation in the face of hardships. Thanks for the ways that you help to make life good.