Dave called a couple of weeks ago and asked if I would come back to Missouri for a bit and help get Mother and Dad’s accounts in order. Dad’s almost bedfast now and they need some help with the house and such. This blog is mostly about my travel adventures in and around New England, but I need to take a detour. Though not an “adventure,” this trip made me use quite a few of the skills I’ve utilized in planning trips and organizing details. I want to write about it, because in this trip, I acted like Dad did, taking care of the details and making sure that all the loose ends were tied up.

I got school started in Hampstead and flew back on Saturday. I only bought a one way ticket because I didn’t know how long I’d be staying.  Taking care of your parents is very new to Dave and me. Dad has always been the one looking out for everyone, not just us, but his eight brothers and sisters as well. I’m not used to seeing him in this light, with other people including myself, caring for him and taking care of business.

The first thing to do was get the house listed for sale. I chose Bob, the realtor who sold our house a couple of years ago, because dad got along with him so well. He was glad to see Bob and knew he was in good hands. It turned out the house wasn’t on the market one day before we got an offer that was more than we expected.  The family had been renting a house across the lake and watched for listings every day.  We gladly accepted the offer and were thrilled to have that out of the way.  Next, I made arrangements for the estate sale. I knew I wouldn’t be able to be here when they had it, but it was good to get that all arranged.

Mother didn’t want to live in another house so we decided to go looking at apartments. We toured one that was less than a mile from Dave and Jennifer’s home. We thought it would be great to have her so close. She loved the 2 bedroom we looked at that even had a garage with interior entry. We went ahead and put a $50 deposit down, just in case this was the one. Dave had checked out stand alone housing in John Knox Village a couple of weeks ago, and it seemed out of the price range we were looking for. But on a whim we decided to go talk to the representative about an apartment. I knew from the minute mother walked into the model home that I would be getting that $50 deposit back from the other place. She was so in love, she decided the model was the one she wanted.

Knowing that all her furniture would be sold at the estate sale, we went and ordered a brand new living and dining room set for the new place. Mother had never been able to choose styles she liked because she always deferred to Dad’s tastes. It was interesting to see her go through fabrics like a kid in a candy store.

Dad was a sign painter when he was young. It was a trade he learned from his father.  Two of Grandpa’s signs were hung in the basement, and a cradle Dad made for Erik with all the grandkids’ names that Dad had painted on it needed to be dealt with.  Dad’s sister Vicky graciously agreed to take the cradle as I couldn’t take it with me, and Dave didn’t have a place for it. She also took the rocking horse Dad had made for the grandkids. Dave decided to take Grandpa’s signs to his garage and hang them there. I share them in this blog because pictures are all that I have of these treasures.

Of course I got to spend time with our son Erik, his wife Amanda, and our beautiful granddaughter Elizabeth.  I also got to see Erik in a performance of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony with his cousin Addie and her boyfriend, Joe. We ate BBQ and I got to see my dear friend Julie McDaniel’s Independence directorial debut of Crimes of the Heart. My trip home included a flight on Spirit Air to LaGuardia, bus and a subway ride to Port Authority bus station, a midnight bus ride to Boston, sleeping in the Boston bus station till my 6:00 bus to New Hampshire, and going to work without going home first. Don’t know what I was thinking, but I guess I’m a dedicated soul

I stayed for a week and a half and was pretty confident that I’d gotten all the wheels in place to break up housekeeping for my parents. I also knew that I would probably never get to speak to my father again. Before I left we shared our love and appreciation for each other, and I left with no regrets.

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller