Mom & Dad Visit in June, 2006 – Day 1

Herb’s Blog, Herbdate 23831 – 1270

Dear Sundry and Diverse Readers, Members of My Favorite Audience,

Here’s the haps:

In June of 2006, about 3 months before my mother passed away, my parents’ pastor paid for them to come visit. I chronicled their visit in the blog I had at the time, reposted them here to their original dates when I first moved to WordPress software, and am now reprinting it here. I’ve only done minor editing of the original stories.

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Day 1 of my parents’ visit

The folks made it in okay.  My mom looks so much like my grandma that it’s just like seeing a ghost.  It’s only been a year since they were here last, but it looks like they’ve aged 10.  The way the old folks looked, it felt as if I had traveled 10 years into the future, and they had to stay and grow old naturally.  They were in wheelchairs because they could never make the long trips around the airports.

Anyway, the two younger girls and I went to pick them up at the airport.  The flight was 20 minutes early, but it took a while before we finally saw them coming, my mom looking like my grandma and my dad looking…old.  Maybe wine is better when aged, but I was shocked at how old he really seemed this time.  He looked and seemed like an 80-year-old man.  They were talking about the behavior of a child they had seen in the airport.

“You know, Dorothy, my ma would never have put up with that tantum [sic] throwing.”

“That was just awful.”

“If I would have been out somewhere and would have thrown myself down kicking and crying like that, my ma would have given me something to kick and cry about.”

“Yeah, yeah.  They don’t do nowadays like they did years ago.”

“That little girl needed a spanking.  My ma would have whipped that tantum right out of her, and she would have had a reason to cry.”

“It was different than that other little baby on the plane.”

“Well, she was just crying.  Maybe she was scared or something.”

Hugs all around when they get up close.  One of the girls took my mom’s little carry-on bag.  Then we went down to the baggage claim.

My brother and his girlfriend let them borrow “One of those nice, fancy suitcases that have the wheels,” and they found one to match at the Goodwill in Plover, WI. Nondescript of itself, I knew what to look for.  Masking tape, a piece made about 3″ x 5″, printed in my Dad’s perfect handwriting.  One printed in perfect block letters, the other with that perfect penmanship he has always had.  Even at 80, it is only slightly shakier; he takes a lot of time to write something, but it is very neat.

Mom is a little quieter than usual.  Usually by now, she has made several complaints, some real, some psychosomatic, but now she almost didn’t complain.

“Herbie, can you believe it?”

“Believe what?”

“Your dad is 80 years old, and he went flying on an airplane.”

“He did last year, and he was 79.”

“That’s different.”

When we got to the house, Mom took her four-pronged cane, which my dad calls her “four-iron,” and headed for the stairs.  Dad started up the hill, but not with the long sure strides I always remembered, but baby steps.  The 80-year-old shuffle:  Taking one of the girls’ hands for balance; watching every step; looking down to see where his foot would go next; and sometimes stopping and stepping down a couple of times to make sure it was a sturdy enough spot that would hold him.  I’ve never seen him like that.

Mom made her slow way up the stairs, and one of the girls gave her a hand up.  They are used to doing that with Grandma Pike.  Being the only driver, I went and got Lizzy and Douglas while Ben and Isabel, and Savannah came over, then I had to run to Sam’s and King Soopers.  I came back to an UNO game going full-blast with everyone in it.

One thing was noticeably absent from last year and other visits.  The bickering that would almost always end up in:

“You better behave yourself, Dorothy, or I’ll put you in the nursing home.”

“I’ll put YOU in the nursing home.”

Guess it just ain’t funny no more.

Remember, the Good Book says, “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly, and revere your God. I am the LORD.”