The good and bad of a weekend

Saturday was a long day which offered quite a lot of fun and sobering thought. At first Cindy and I drove up to Stockbridge and did a little shopping at a flooring store. We found some stuff that we liked, borrowed some samples, and then drove on toward Dunwoody. On the way, Cindy decided that she wanted to stop at the J C Penny Outlet Store. This huge building off I-75 sits above the highway and is some place that I always glance at on my way north or south, but for which I have rarely stopped.

This time, Cindy wanted to look and see if they had an entertainment center which would hold the television set that Kevin and Susan gave us. The television is a dinosaur which is so large that it doesn't really fit anywhere in our house. At any rate, Cindy and I stopped in the store and looked around. They had no entertainment centers, had a food prep table which we thought about buying (but which had insurmountable problems due to the way the drawers were installed in the box) and ended up buying four red kitchen chairs and a small box radio, which I am listening too, kind of, in my office.

Anyway, we drove on to Dunwoody where Cindy opened birthday presents and then Cindy and Momma went on to Perimeter to shop. Dad and I sat in the kitchen and watched football for several hours. Finally, Kevin and Susan came over with the girls and we talked with them for awhile. That evening, we ate at Olive Garden, where I ate light with a salad and pasta with tomato sauce. It was good.

That night, the dessert came when Georgia upset Alabama in Tuscaloosa. That was fun. Oh, and W&L won as well, although I didn't find about that until Monday morning.

Sunday, we drove over to Jonesboro and ate at Cracker Barrel. I had roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and cabbage. As I was paying, I told the cashier that my meal was good but that I didn't get as much roast beef as I would have at my momma's house. I then told her that there had to be some compensation for eating with your mother.

That afternoon, the Falcons got beat, surprise, and the afternoon drifted into a torpor of tiredness and concern about the dealings ahead on Monday. I would have liked to go to a movie or get some exercise.

The sadness of this weekend revolved around indications that my father is drifting off a bit into the last phase of his life. As we sat at the Olive Garden I looked at and watched my mother and father. Momma is the same person, bubbly and personable and very young looking for her age. But Dad seemed to be weighed down by the years a bit. He had difficulty hearing people talking, seemed a step behind on conversations, and didn't participate as quickly in the evening. This is the beginning of that last phase, I am afraid. We need to draw around him and make sure that these days are as connected with him because these moments are so precious.

Cindy thought I needed to make sure that Frank and his family come up and participate in holiday fun. When you are away for long times, you don't have the opportunity to see and guage the subtle changes in personality and temperment. Frank needs to see that as Susan and I can.

Seasons of life.