Day 27: Look Who’s Here

Almost every Sunday, my two brothers and I go to visit my dad and we eat a late breakfast together and just shoot the breeze. As we were chatting away, my brother Frankie said, “Ohhh, look who’s here?” We all turned towards the sliding glass door and were so happy to see our brother, Dominic.

My dad likes to give all of us a hard time, it’s a past time that you just have to endure and most of us can handle it pretty well. Before Dominic even kissed my dad hello, he said, “Oh, good, I’m glad you’re here, I have a list of things for you to do! And since you haven’t been here in a long time, the list got pretty long!” We all laughed and Dominic took the small jab in stride.

When we visit my dad, we try to help him with whatever it is he needs; today each of us had something to do. Frankie was cooking breakfast, Joe went grocery shopping, I activated my dad’s new debit card, and Dominic had to fix the broken light chain and replace a few light bulbs.

There was a lot going on in my dad’s tiny apartment, but he was happy. My dad is 84 and it brings me so much joy to see him smile and laugh. He misses my mom more than words could tell and he rarely shows that much joy unless he is telling stories of he and my mom. 

I’ll keep the simple joy of today in my pocket because there is truly nothing better than my dad laughing and smiling with his kids.