Merry Christmas! 

This Christmas Memory is short and sweet for me.  I can't go through a Christmas morning without remembering that Christmas Day, was the last day my dad was ever home when I was a kid.  And I am so glad we could make it happen.

I was 16, my brother 21, and we went and picked up my dad from Southwest General Hospital. We got him in the car and brought him home for the day.  His future was a forgone conclusion as cancer was well advanced, and had been for a few months, but we got him home.  I'll be honest, I don't remember much about that whole day, other than the fact he was home with us, such as he was.  And I think that was good enough for us.

After a few hours, we drove him back, and I think he was ready to go back, as he needed care that we were not capable of handling. A couple weeks later, he moved to a nursing home.  A few weeks after that he forgot where he was, and a few weeks after that he forgot who I was. Then he passed at 53.  Too young.  Yeah I miss him, but it's been so long ago, I can't imagine my life with him. He was a good guy.

But, I am always thankful for that last visit to the house. The one my mom still lives in, the one on a 2 acre wooded lot. The one they bought in 1959 and agonized over how they would afford a $147 a month mortgage.  He was home one last time, and that is a Christmas memory I will never, ever forget.

Merry Christmas!!