Messages

Dad at 90 years old

Shortly after my dad passed away, I was hoping to get another message from him. The first message came at his funeral. It was pouring buckets, the door to the hearse was open. As the pallbearers were preparing to put the casket in the hearse, the door slammed shut. It didn't just close, but slammed shut. The incident made me laugh because after Mass, Dad would go to the church hall for donuts and coffee, but that wasn't the plan for this day and Dad was letting me know he was very unhappy. Sorry, Pal.

The first week passed by, and then the second, no message. And then I dreamt, I got a telephone call from my uncle, Dad's youngest brother who passed away in 2004. Uncle didn't want me to worry and told me Dad was busy with their mother.

As Alzheimer's took its hold on Dad, he went through a wormhole and arrived in his past, sometime between the ages of 17 and 24, before he was married to my mother. He talked a lot about his mother, thought she was still alive. I learned quickly not to give reality checks because his sadness at the loss of his mother (50+ years ago) would be renewed. If  we were out and I said I was going to take him home, he thought I meant the home he grew up in. So I was very happy to get the message Dad was with his mother.

Nice, too, to chat with my Uncle. He gave me my first real job when I got out of computer school. The fact that he called me was so typical of his thoughtfulness. Everyone that met Uncle, loved him.

I called my Cousin to let him know I had gotten a message from his father. He laughed and said his dad calling me on the telephone was classic. He said his dad loved the telephone. Had one in every room of the house except the bathroom. Every time a new model phone came out, his Dad was right there getting it. I never knew my uncle's love affair with the telephone.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Hamlet, Act I, Scene V