SO. MY 89-YEAR-OLD father entered a Jacksonville hospice yesterday following a week-long bout of very severe pneumonia/COPD (reports vary) and attendant complications. When I spoke with him by phone, his speech was slurred as he said, “It’s been a wild ride.” Those may have been his last words to me; I don’t know if he was talking about the illness, which robbed him of his natural optimism, or his life in general – the latter being very full with people he loved and who loved him in return. He taught me to be a mensch and how to appreciate eating and cooking (especially the adventurous variety), classic comedy, baseball, Slack, music, generosity, thrift, and “the little things in life you treasure.” (See more at “Why I Love My Dad.”)
As Dad would say, “C’est la vie.” I believe he will eventually be at peace.
But dammit — he will be missed.
(And today, the 23rd of January, at 2:40pm Eastern, he is. Terribly. BD”E, Dad, and welcome to the What-Was.)