MY DAD!

Before you laugh at my laundry on the line, read the following story.

Mom, Ann and I got up early this morning to go yard saling. Before we left I put a load of laundry in the washer. That way it will be ready to hang out when we get back, I thought.

We returned some three hours later, delightedly discussing all the bargains we found and the amazing morning we had. As we neared home, Ann noticed the laundry happily flapping in the breeze. We started to question how it had found it's way to the line. If Mom had been home, it wouldn't have been hard to guess but Dad was the only possible answer. And Dad...hanging out laundry???!!! I had never in all my days heard of such a thing! Could it be possible??

I rushed into the kitchen and looked out the window just to make sure. Yes, the clothes were definitely on the line and not in the washer where I had left them. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry and so I did some of both. I cried when I thought of my 87-year-old Dad, who doesn't do much in a day besides read and sleep, hanging out my laundry. I laughed when I went out to take a closer look and saw the interesting arrangement of clothes hanging on the line.

My Dad...often forgets. He will ask the same question many times over. He won't remember people he goes to church with or has known for years. He can't remember events or will ask several times in a day, what day it is. He's stubborn and wants to do things his way. He doesn't understand or reason very well anymore, often reminding me of a 5-year-old boy.

And yet...MY DAD hung the laundry up for me, although I've never known him to do it before, even in his "better years". I'm proud of him. I love my dad. I realized this again today and just how special he is and how much I will miss him when he's gone. I determined to tell him so this very day.