Not-So Happy Father's Day

I spent the weekend trying to figure out what to get for Dad for Father's Day. I had no ideas, as usual, but especially with his shifting moods. I really wanted to get him something that would entertain him while he's stuck in the hospital, but I guess anything of value keeps getting stolen from his room at St. James hospital in Chicago Heights.

I ended up getting frustrated, but we went for coffee at Barnes and Noble and a coffee-table book caught my eye (I usually flip through them while Ed's finding his magazines). As I went through it a picture caught my eye. A waterfall. It looked familiar... I flipped back. Wow!!! It was Calf Creek falls!

Anyone outside of our family wouldn't know the significance, but my Dad always tried to find little out-of-the-way places to go on our family vacations -places that weren't so overrun with tourists, etc. He found out about Calf Creek, but when we arrived it was pretty late. He talked to a ranger who told him that we'd have to hike in and out pretty fast to get back by nightfall. We had a "family meeting" and decided to go for it.

Now, I was sick as a dog and it was HOT out (it's in Utah). Not only that, but the hiking was up and down, part rocky, part deep sand -none of it easy to walk through. We had to keep up a good pace as it was a ways to the falls, and me being hot, sick, and tired didn't make it much fun. Finally, as we approached a curve in the trail ahead we felt a rush of cool air and the mist of the falls. It felt soooo good we all ran to the falls. It was a beautiful sight! The waterfall was outlined on the rock by bright green algae, and the whole place was just this little oasis in the woods. My Dad said "If I came across this while heading West back in the gold rush days, I woulda built a house and stayed here!"

We all sat down where we stood and ripped our shoes and socks off to head for the cool water after the long, hot hike. But the water was not just cool, it was COLD. My Mom describes it like this: "When you stepped into the water up to your ankles, your KNEES hurt it was so cold." -It didn't stop me or Jeff, however. We headed to a place where the rocks sloped at an easy angle from the water to see if we could climb up at all. I think Jeff got there first, and before he got very far, he slid down the rock face and into the water. (The rock was all covered with algae.) I tried next, but got no further.

We spend enough time there to soak in the sights and cool down in the water, but the sun was going down fast and we had to leave sooner than any of us wanted to. The hike back was just as hard, but more motivated as darkness nipped at our heals. -But, we made it back safe and sound (and with one more story to tell of adventure on a family vacation).

So, I had to get the book for my Dad. Because of the aphasia (inability to communicate/understand language), my Dad can't read, but luckily, next to all the pictures in the book is a globe with the location of where the picture was taken marked on it. -That's cool. I also got him 2 cards. One Father's Day card with a really neat "outdoor" picture on the front -kindof a multi-media thingy made of felt, tacks (as tent stakes), string, etc. and another "Get Well Soon" card. -I figured that if we could have a bunch of cards in his room, it might cheer him up and let him know that he's being thought of.

On Sunday I went down to see my Mom. Another adventure! On the way, she calls to tell me my brother "thinks he got his car towed". -She wanted to know if I knew of the website where you can look to see if your car's been towed. Several phone calls (and voicemails to my brother) later, she found it and the car had, in fact, been towed. So, my brother had to take a cab to the impound lot where they told him that he needed to buy a city sticker before they could release the car. He took another cab to a currency exchange, got a sticker, got the car...

We all, eventually, made it to my Mom's house and visited my Dad in the hospital. He was VERY tired and didn't want company (he kept waving us off, like "go away"). So, we went down the cafeteria for an hour or so, then checked back in to see if he was feeling better. Nope. Still grouchy and not in the mood for company. We didn't push him, and left for dinner instead.

My Mom's been a trooper in all of this. It's hard to be there for someone who's angry and depressed, but she's done all she could for him at every turn. Luckily, we were able to get her to laugh over dinner (especially Jeff and his stories), then we went back to her place and I showed her a great forum for stroke victims, survivors, and caretakers. It's here: www.strokeboard.net.

That's about it. That was my Father's Day. First one, probably, without seeing much of my Dad. :-(