This post is a bit of a departure for me.

This past week, I haven’t been keeping up with my daily blog posts.

My Dad, who is coming 90 in August, has recently been very low.

His choice was to not go into hospital, and to remain instead in the private assisted living facility where he and Mom have lived since March 2020.

Mom and Dad are the definition of joined at the hip. They dated from the time my Mom was fourteen and Dad seventeen. They married at 18 and 21, respectively. They were married 68 years last November.

Dad has been in progressively failing physical health the past few years, and Mom has insisted on being his sole caregiver.

It appears that Dad may be in his final days now. None of us has a crystal ball, but my experience in palliative care nursing tells me that the although the end may not be immediately imminent, it’s approaching. My four siblings and I are taking turns sitting with them. We’re assisting with Dad’s care and supporting Mom as much as she allows us to. She’s having a difficult time relinquishing the care to us as well as to the care staff in their facility.

I’ll be doing only sporadic posts over the next while, as we navigate these difficult waters.

“As much as I enjoy romance, it’s commitment that I need the most. I need to know a love I can depend on, a love that says, “I will be with you through it all. I love you. And I will love you even when you may not be all that lovable, for sometimes I’m not very lovable either. You can count on me – always.”

Steve Goodier