Dad

Dad always thought that laughter was the best medicine.  Which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.

~ Jack Handey

Today would have been my dad's 74th birthday.  I guess it actually still is, he just isn't here to celebrate it.  If you want to celebrate it for him, have chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.  That's what he would have had.

And then do some kind of prank on someone.  He would have wanted that, too.

The last time I talked with my dad was really just a few hours / a day before he passed.  The first thing I said to him was, "Leslie isn't very happy with you."  He wasn't able to say much, but the expression on his face clearly conveyed, "Why?  What have I done to her?!"

Then I said, "Air Force beat Army in football today."  And that made him smile.

My mom talked for a while about people who had visited and how things were going.  My dad cleared his throat and tried to talk.  She asked if he needed to sit up or if he needed a drink of water.

He very quietly said, "I want to be alone."

If you had asked me, I never in 100 years would have guessed that the last words I would hear my father say would be a Greta Garbo impersonation.

To be honest, I also wouldn't have spent 100 years trying to guess that.

I know the fishing lures don't have anything to do with the quote or this post, but my dad liked fishing.

And I was trying to lure you into this blog post.

Happy birthdad.  (<-- not a typo).