Wednesday, February 17, 2016

MY DAD

Kind. That is the first word that pops in to my mind when I think about my dad. He is an incredibly kind man. He has always supported me no matter what I decided to do in life. He is intelligent, big hearted, and with a good sense of humor. He goes with the flow, and is extremely flexible. When Sarah and I picked him up from the airport end of January, I was so happy to see him again after being apart from over a year and a half. Luckily, we can take up where we left off.

We had a very special time with my dad visiting before Jacob got sick, and I didn't want to forget about the two very special weeks we had with him. Life was busy as usual in our home, and sometimes it can be stressful to have a guest in our house. Not with my dad. He is very independent, and helped us wherever he could. Jacob's nurses were surprised to see him venture out in the snow storm to go grocery shopping, shovel our front porch, clean our house, and make us dinners. I guess that's who my dad is. He finds his place in any environment, and just knows how to be helpful.

We had great conversations over dinner and Joakim and him were sharing a whiskey at night. Sarah loved that grandpa was in the house as she came home from school, and Jacob loved to show off on his talker and beat him in bumper cars on his IPad.



We also took grandpa to Celestial Seasonings, and he really enjoyed the tour of the tea factory. I know Jacob loved getting out of the house on this warm winter day.




To have Jacob turn ten years old was amazing. It made it extra special that my dad got to celebrate this special day with all of us and Jacob's circle of friends. He also helped me to get ready for the party, and he was the pizza chef of the day!




The last day, I tried to finish up work early. I then took my dad to our gym. My dad got to swim, spend time in the hot tub and steam room. He had a very relaxing time, and we then had lunch in the cafe. What made this Friday afternoon so special was that we just had great conversations. I think by the end of the day, that is what I love most about my dad. I love to share my life with him, even if we unfortunately see each other way too seldom. Jacob and Sarah also don't see their grand parents often enough, so when it happens, it is great when you see moments of quality time. I loved seeing Sarah's face when she realized her grand pa is a true math and (plasma) physics wizard. I loved to see my dad's amazement when he realized Jacob could talk, even if he didn't completely understood how his communication device works.



We ended my dad's visit with a dinner at the Dushanbe Tea House. It was a delicious meal with many laughs and good conversations. I also loved to see how Sarah opened up to her grandpa, and even got him a Facebook account he couldn't say no to because of her setting it up for him.




As my dad left, and we went into a very stressful hospital stay with our boy, I do think I had a little extra energy from my time with my dad. He filled my bucket.

Jacob is HOME tonight. He is doing well in his own bed tonight. We had a vacation week planned in Breckenridge this week. Our nurses all wanted us to still go. As Jacob got home, they took over Jacob's care so Joakim could join Sarah and I tonight. We're spoiling our girl, and are thankful for Jacob's nurse team. They are simply the best!

Love, Maria.





2 comments:

  1. So glad you got some quality time with your dad, and you were ability to escape to Breckenridge with Sarah! And I'm most happy that Jacob is home!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathleen, thank you! I hope to see you next time you're in Colorado!

      Delete