| Today's my dad's birthday. He passed away six years ago. He was 73 1/2. Given that he had a heart problem -- a congenital heart defect, patent ductus arteriosus I think -- his entire life, we were fortunate to have him around so long. He had been told he wouldn't reach 50. He outlived the doctor that told him that! His defect let to bacterial endocarditis and open heart surgery back in the days when open heart surgery was still experimental. Later he developed diabetes. So I'm lucky that he lived to see me reach adulthood. Nevertheless it would have been nice to have him around longer. To listen to one of his corny jokes and to roll my eyes and say "Oh dad." At times like these I find myself wondering... will we meet again? I hope so. |