My father had open heart surgery today. I got the call from my mother. I just got the word an hour ago. The surgery was a complete success…zero complications…my dad is resting comfortably.
This is the best news I have heard in about a decade and a half. There are a million things I would talk about in great detail, but little of it matters at the moment.
On Sunday night, I am off to see the Finale of “The Apprentice.” I look forward to it.
On Thursday, I am off to New York. I will be seeing my 99 year old grandmother. She rocks. There is plenty I could say about her, but that can wait.
On Saturday, April 28th, I am off to the NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Will the Raiders draft Jamarcus Russell or Brady Quinn, or perhaps make a blockbuster trade? In a few days I will care. When I told one of my coworkers that my dad pulled through, he replied that now “my biggest worry would be whether the Raiders would be the worst or second worst team in the league this year.” I am comfortable having that worry. One of my dad’s biggest expressions when confronted with trivial matters is “may that be your biggest worry in life.” Well my dad’s open heat surgery certainly qualified.
Jdate adventures abound. I will at some point soon look forward to them. Right now I am less concerned about a woman meeting my dad (he is tough), and more happy that I just have a dad at all…and a mom who takes great care of him.
He will probably want to come home, smoke a cigar, and have a steak with salt on it. He has made it crystal clear in the past that life is about quality, not quantity.
Some of my frustrations have melted away. Yesterday I wondered why Delta Airlines actually thought that I would prefer speaking to people in a call center from India as opposed to people in Utah. It took 30 minutes for them to understand my address, and I was speaking crystal clearly. Normally I would be angry right now because a lunch delivery that was supposed to take 30-40 minutes has taken almost 90 minutes. I am starving, but then again I am too drained and relieved to be enraged.
This feeling will not last. I know myself. The first time a referee makes a bad call, or someone messes up my lunch order, I will have to pray that they get sterilized so that they do not inflict children on us that are even less competent than they are. Some years I vow to be more patient, and yet some years I vow to be even less patient, and demand others meet what I consider to be reasonable standards.
People should not put their lives on hold permanently. I went to a football game the day after my grandmother died because skipping the game (and the commitment I made to my friends to go) was not going to bring her back.
However, putting one’s life on hold temporarily is what makes us human. My dad wonders why I would worry about things I cannot change, but outside of family, nothing matters in this world on such a large scale…when I say family, I do not mean relatives, those people who show up for holidays and occasionally ruin dinners…I am talking family…parents.
My dad will continue to worry about me. When will I get married? When will I have kids? Will I ever get a decent haircut and a shave? (Don’t know, don’t know, probably not).
I am not going to lie and say that his grousing will all of a sudden becoe music to my ears. It will still be grating to hear him question why I like football. Yet, for all the people out there who have regretted who their parents are, that has never been me. My parents mean the world to me, and always have. Alot of people are not so lucky.
I am truly blessed. I pray that my dad’s remaining time on Earth be happy and healthy, and the same for my mom. What else in life is important? I love you mom and dad.
Oh great, lunch just arrived, an hour late, and they totally screwed up the order.
Deep breaths. It’s not life and death.
eric