Song: Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve

So my dad came down today to visit for the next week and a half.  He arrived around 3 pm this afternoon.  I was so excited because I hadn't seen him since last August when he came to Florida to visit.  We had dinner at my mom's house (my parents are divorced if you didn't catch that) and then my sister called to let us know she was off work and heading to her house in the next town over, as my dad is staying with her while he's here.  So my dad, Kila, and I hopped in the car and roughly halfway into our trek to my sister's house his cell phone rings.  It's his brother with news that their mother had just passed away about 10 minutes prior.  My dad had only been on vacation for 4 1/2 hours before he gets this call that he is now left without any parents (my grandpa died when I was 7 of lung cancer).  My grandma has been sick with Alzheimer's for a few years now and had to be placed in a nursing home around the same amount of time.  She was also sick with heartbreak and depression for the past 20 years since my grandpa died.

There are several things that got me ruffled here.  One--my grandma just died.  Even though we had drifted apart over the years as I grew up I do still remember she'd spoil us rotten and do just about anything for us.  And she baked the best pumpkin bread EVER with a secret recipe that she has now taken to the grave with her.  Second--the phone call came in the middle of a lively discussion of a movie we had both recently and separately seen and we were having a grand time laughing and joking.  Sitting in a car with my dad after that phone call was pure torture.  What made it even harder was my six year old daughter had oodles of questions, none of which I'm sure he was prepared or even wanted to answer at the time.  I tried to help as best I could but I could only feel his pain with each question as we all know how tactful children are.  Third--HE HAD JUST ARRIVED ON VACATION.  Her death is sad, yes, but why couldn't it be at the end of his vacation instead of the very beginning?  Now he's going to have this on his mind all week instead of just enjoying himself for a MUCH needed vacation.  And since the funeral arrangements were taken care of years ago before my grandma started completely losing her memory there is no need for him there, other than to mourn for his mother.  But as he said himself "why go home and be sad, when I can visit here with my family and be happy for awhile?"  It's just the timing is so incredibly bad!  I mean, there's never a good time to die, but you get the picture.  Last--I can't even fathom losing one parent much less losing both and realizing your life is no longer what it once was.  I mean, they're your parents!  They brought you into this world.  And now you can no longer talk to them, hug them, laugh with them--there's nothing.  I would feel lost without my parents, even though I have a brother and sister, and my daughter of course.  I would feel so alone knowing that the memories we once shared are now only my memories.  The bond of parent and child is so strong.  Who do you lean on when they're gone?  Here's to hoping my dad will still be able to enjoy himself while he's here . . . as this vacation is now bittersweet.