Other than one very small glass of wine on New Year's Eve, I have not had a drink (of alcohol) since my elderly father-in-law went into the hospital in October. My wife is not fond of drinking at all, and is "not particularly encouraging" of my drinking at home, so I do not do so.
My elderly father-in-law has been my "drinking buddy" of sorts, and it has been a long standing ritual for us to get together for libations and pipes (usually on a Friday afternoon). Now, with him being in a rehabilitation facility, he is not allowed to drink or to have pipes. And, even though he is showing some improvement, he is also currently not his traditionally talkative self at the moment either. In fact, most days he is relatively non-talkative with everyone who visits him.
So, I feel a bit sad. Obviously I feel sad that my father-in-law is having such a rough time and that he is having to work to try to get back to a "normal" state of health for himself, and I am of course very sad that I am not sure if he will continue to work to do so.... it depends on how his mood affects him at the moment.
But, and I do not mean for it to sound selfish, but it probably does sound that way and it probably is.... I am also sad that I do not get to have a drink with him, have a pipe with him, or chat with him in the ways we had grown accustomed to over the years. Is this a "pity party" for me? Probably. And, that makes me mad at myself too.
PipeTobacco
............................................ ............................................ A blog devoted to the ramblings of a small town, middle aged college professor as he experiences life and all its strange variances.
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Friday, January 12, 2018
6 comments:
I appreciate all forms of comments on my writings. I find that I miss the sponteneity of coming to read them here when they were unmoderated. I believe I wrote less due to the moderation. I have decided to adopt limited moderation. Hopefully the prior problems with unfettered comments will not arise again. Please feel free to comment as you wish about the essays I write. I will maintain those comments that offer kind-hearted and gentle opinion... be it positive or negative. The opinions of your comments will, of course, need to have relevance to the post as well.
Guess you'll have to think of something different for the two of you to do once he gets home. Drinking and smoking probably will be out of the picture. I understand how attached you are to him and your time together. Sorry it has to change, but it does.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Not selfish at all to miss something that gave you such satisfaction. Unfortunately, the older we get the more things we have to say good-bye to. A certain day becomes the last day of a favorite activity. Often we don't even know that "today" is that unwelcome last day, and that's probably just as well.
ReplyDeleteMinority position--tell him he needs to hurry up and get well so the two of you can drink and smoke together. That might inspire him to work on getting well.
ReplyDeleteNo, not a pity party. I think you would grieve for something you have lost that was valued. The time with your f-i-l was special.
ReplyDeletesneak him in a tiny glass of wine..hah
ReplyDeleteEveryone:
ReplyDeleteI am going to start replying to comments here in the comment section. I apologize, I probably should have been doing this more.
Jack.... thank you (since I cannot find a blog for you to reply onto your blog, I thought I better do yours here) for your comments!!!! I would *like* to tell him that... especially if it would work. But, unfortunately...