Henry's Asylum

Back Again

I’m afraid that my writing has been a bit sparse as of late. As I had mentioned in my previous blog, my mom had called me on Friday to inform me that my dad had just passed away. It wasn’t really unexpected, though. He was 96 years old, suffered from Parkinson’s disease and had just been hospitalized for pneumonia. They set up a hospital-type bed at their home in Albuquerque and enlisted the assistance of Hospice which sent an RN three times a week plus nursing assistants for bathing, etc. and a housekeeper once a week to help my mom (she turns 80, this month) with cleaning. Even so, when these things happen, they tend to hit you as a bit of a shock since you’re dealing with the subconscious, at that point. It really wasn’t the grown up, “been there, done that” experience hardened man that my mom was talking to, at that moment. But rather some hidden small kid that hangs out in the innermost recesses of my subconscious thoughts and who only comes out in dreams (or when I feel irrationally pissed off at something). Anyway, I’m back at work and things are normal, once again. There was no funeral service. My dad who, in the end, reasoned that all of his friends were dead and his aging family members would’ve had a hard time making the trip from the east coast to New Mexico stipulated that. So he went for the straight cremation / no service route. A seriously impressive move, in my opinion. He still amazes me. Tomorrow – back on track ...

posted by hbrennan @ 5:00 PM