I don't want anything to happen to him, Sarah.

Guess today calls for a blog post.
My dad.
In the hospital. Cancer. Prostate removed.
The doctors are more than pleased with how the surgery went, and with how he's doing.
But...
they told him he'd be home this morning.
And he's still there. And he's tired. And so frustrated. And in pain.

His girlfriend is being more than amazing. I told her I'm not sure I'll ever be able to thank her enough. I won't. That's my DAD she's looking after.

My cousin, his niece, flew in today to help.
She'd offered, he said it wasn't necessary. I sensed it was. Emailed her. She bought a plane ticket that next morning.

We all met at the hospital. My sister and I had been there since early afternoon. Sally (girlfriend) left to pick Lisa (cousin) up from the airport. My sister and I did our best to keep him comfortable and as entertained as possible. Crossword puzzles. Piano music from my iPod so he could sleep. This Old House on PBS. Hands to hold. Extra pillows. Fewer pillows. More blankets. Fewer blankets. Walks down the hall. Call the nurse. Ask for more pain medication. Make sure the prune juice was warmed up.

Lisa and Sally showed up and we all let Sally stay with him alone for a while. She has a way with him. And he needed it right then.

After eating dinner with my mom, Lisa and I came to my dad's, where I now sit typing this. She walked in about 10 minutes before I did, after 15 years of being away. When I walked in to help her find the keys to his truck so she could go relieve Sally and spend some time with my dad, I found her standing in the middle of his living room with tears in her eyes.

"I don't want anything to happen to him, Sarah."
"Me either Lisa."

........

This is a much longer story than I've made it here. I hope to elaborate later. I love my dad. More than words can say. I'm overwhelmed tonight.

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I'm a marketer.
Marketers try and appeal to people. To get them to buy this, or shop here, or in my case, "Sign up for this and watch (so then I can provide your contact information to a company so they can ask you to BUY) this."

I tempt people with the lure of "free" information. Knowledge.
But it's not without it's cost.

Decisive

After three months of dating, but not dating.
She woke up one morning and realized,

"..this is not what I want.

So... I'm gonna go."

And she left.
Wrapped her scarf around her shoulders, put her sunglasses over her eyes, walked herself to the alley that is Linden Street and ordered a Blue Bottle New Orleans style iced coffee with soy milk. Because that is what she wanted. So she went and she got it.
Done.

Today's poem

She decided to free herself,
dance into the wind,
create a new language.
And birds fluttered around her,
writing "yes" in the sky.

happiness hit her

Happiness hit her like a train on a track
Coming towards her stuck still no turning back
She hid around corners and she hid under beds
She killed it with kisses and from it she fled
With every bubble she sank with her drink
And washed it away down the kitchen sink

The dog days are over
The dog days are done
The horses are coming
So you better run