Hi.  My father’s accident was in 2004.  He survived.  He has some lasting brain damage and isn’t exactly the same as he was before the accident, but he is doing remarkably well for 83.  He and my mother still live independently (although I would be happier if they moved to a retirement community) and he works out at the Y most days.

I wrote this piece in class not long ago when we had been challenged to tell a story in about sixty words.  It was a slice of my life and I wanted to share it.  I was trying to capture how unprepared I was for that phone call.  I didn’t think about context, and that many of you might expect that this had happened today.  I think the accident was on my mind because I had written about waiting rooms yesterday.  I am so sorry I made you worry!  Thank you for your concern.

I will share that my father’s brother died last week.  He was living in a memory care facility and had a stroke.    My father was the youngest of eight, and this brother was his last sibling.  I think my father’s mortality has been on his mind; it has been on my mine, and I have been reflecting on the time we almost lost him, as well as the years we have had since.   I will probably find myself writing more about this as the challenge progresses.   That is the probably the closest thing I will post to a trigger warning.

Thanks again for all your concern and support.