#217 -Don't Like Good-byes

​Breakfast With Dad in Springfield

Yesterday we almost didn't get to take Dad on a picnic. There have been spikes of cases in the county and Dad's facility has gotten stricter. But we picked him up at 10 this morning and brought him to our motel.

This handy structure wasn't even needed after all. We lucked out with one more sunny day! We spread the cloth and decorated with pumpkins, then Don picked up a breakfast feast from George's Restaurant, next door.

Catching Up
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We had lots of catching up to do, even though Dad and I have talked daily since the pandemic started. All our communication has been on his landline and through the mail. Suddenly we were together in person and I could show him things!

This morning, Dad looked at videos of his great grand baby and he looked at wedding albums of his grandkids. He even looked at some old magazines from the 50's.

Scrapbooks and FaceTime

It was fun to hear Dad's comments as he looked through family scrapbooks from the 1960s. He took his time, looking at photos of our family, when we lived in Grinnell, Iowa... then New York, Florida and Italy. He smiled and pointed, "We had fun, didn't we?"

Then we FaceTimed my sister. Since Dad doesn't have a smartphone, Jenni and Dad were face to face, for the first time since Christmas. He laughed and carried on with Charlie, Jenni and Kate's dog.

Doling Park in the Afternoon

We went for a change of scenery in the afternoon. Dad remembered Doling Park fondly, but said he hadn't been since high school. There were no nearby tables, but we took out our chairs. We nibbled on cheese and crackers and sipped root beer.

We made friends with a kitty and we watched clouds and pointed out our favorite trees. At one point Dad looked up at a plane, "I wonder what those people are saying, up in that plane?" We all gave our guesses.

Don and I had planned to stay another night and do another picnic. But rain and cold was predicted and we weren't sure we could talk Dad's facility into a third day.

We packed up and had Dad back by 3:30. I hate good-byes and this could have been a hard one. But parting was sort of rushed and awkward, with no time to be sentimental. A kind, staff member greeted us at the door and offered to carry Dad's bags of books, pumpkins, brownies... Our good-bye hug was quick and probably illegal. I had to remind Dad to pull his mask higher and Dad rolled his eyes. Not the smoothest exit, but we drove away so happy. When I talked to Dad later, he sounded the same!
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