Dad is home

Dad was released from the hospital on Tuesday and is ecstatic to be out in the fresh air and sunshine. Mom said the first thing he did when he got home was to walk down the big hill to look at the lake.  Yesterday  I took a half day from work to stay with him while Mom went to the closing to finish up the sale of the house.

When I asked Dad what he wanted to do, he didn't even hesitate; he wanted to go over to the pole barn and get busy sorting and organizing all the stuff leftover from the auction in Berne. My sister,Carol and her husband, Jack helped out by driving down to get the two trailers  full of  Dad's treasure and delivering them  to the lake while Dad was still in the hospital. It was obvious to all concerned that there wasn't going to be any peace until things that were weighing on Dad's mind were taken care of. When they got back, Carol told me there wasn't anything in those two trailers that she wouldn't have discarded as junk.  It wasn't junk, it was antique car parts, and because of this experience I've learned to identify clutch linkages, transmissions, carburetors, air cleaners, etc, etc... just by glancing at them. The day was fantastic even though it was sweaty oily greasy work. I got there at noon and we didn't knock off  until 5. I kept telling Dad to sit down and rest and I would push, move, carry whatever he wanted done; but after 6 days lying in a hospital bed Dad is like the Energizer bunny. He just won't stop. He's not allowed to drive (not even his beloved golf cart) which means that wherever he goes he has a chauffeur accompanying him. The day was very nostalgic for me since I was always the tomboy of the family and followed Dad around as a kid handing him tools and generally getting in his way. We finished the evening sitting by the outdoor fire burning leaves and sticks cleared from the yard. Mom didn't get back from the closing and other errands until 8:30and she put a big smile on Dad's face when she set his favorite fast food, KFC, on the table. The ride home was long and dark, but I tucked in behind a semi so I didn't need to worry about the Bambi's. This morning I woke to find just about every muscle in my body stiff and sore, but still feeling good to know that Dad's home and able to putter around in his pole barn to his heart's content.