No Regrets...

I am so very grateful that we took Daddy on the cruise in January. He had the best time and so many first time life experiences. It was fun for me to see the experience through his eyes as a first time cruiser...something we have come to love.

Five days after we returned from the cruise on January 31, Daddy went into the hospital with another case of pneumonia. He had additional complications with his acid reflux but the pneumonia seemed to respond to treatment very quickly. Seemed to. After several days of "not feeling good" Daddy went in to see his doctor. The pneumonia was still there. Two shots and three prescriptions later he was supposed to be on the road to recovery. He's not.

The latest problem is that Daddy's blood pressure is ridiculously low. He gets up most mornings and feels fairly decent for about 2 hours and it's all downhill after that. He is concerned...as we all are...but I've never known him not to just blow things off as "I'll get over it soon enough." Last Thursday he was feeling so badly that he was talking to me about things to take care of after he passes. Did I still have the key to his safe? Did I know where his bank was to pay for his funeral expenses, etc. It is so very difficult for me to hear these things. He is my dad. He is invincible. He is immortal. Right?

It has been over two weeks since Daddy has even left the house. He takes a shower, he eats, he sleeps and he watches television. I no longer feel comfortable leaving the house for more than a couple of hours at a time if he is going to be alone. On Saturday, Ronnie and I went to Winstar for gambling and a concert. I made plans to skip out on the trip unless his girlfriend, Lila, was able to come to the house and stay with him. It's like he has to have a babysitter now. I don't know why, but this never occured to me. I never thought about the fact that he might need to have someone with him 24/7. It breaks my heart. Daddy has always been an independent man who could build anything, fix anything, make anything work. Now...he is feeble.

In truth, Daddy may bounce back from this latest health issue, or he may not. Even if he does improve and gain some independence back, I worry because each episode takes him longer to recover from. I know the inevitability. That's why I am living these days without regrets. So what if the house isn't spotless if I get to sit with my Dad over a cup of coffee in the morning. So what if I have to spend money that I don't really have because he wants "to go to Shreveport one more time" once he gets to feeling better. I am his only survivor. I will inherit everything when he is gone. It's probably not much, but I would trade everything for him to just feel better again.

Caribbean Dreams...

I know that this is a little late, but I have been incredibly busy. I have discovered that time flies when you are busy.

This is the first time that we have taken a cruise in January. What a delight! We left the Dallas area headed for 7 days and nights in the sunny Caribbean. "We" being my husband, Ron, and myself accompanied by my cousin and her husband, Bennie and Barbara, and my Dad and his girlfriend, Lila. Daddy and Lila were first time cruisers so we were excited about seeing the cruise through their eyes. We headed first to the Honduras, then to Costa Maya and finally to Cozumel where Ron and I took a side trip to Cancun. On our way to our first port we had a little excitement when the ship's crew discovered a 50 man life raft afloat in the ocean. The ship stopped, turned around and went to the raft to see if someone needed to be rescued. The raft was empty but the rescue crew captured it and brought it aboard the ship. We turned the ship around and resumed our trek to Roatan, Honduras without so much as a delay in arrival.


In Roatan each of us had different excursions planned. Ron and I went to an Iguana park and then to a resort where we relaxed, walked the beach and collected sea shells. The other four went on a glass bottom boat tour but apparently the water was too murky to see much.



Once we debarked Roatan and headed for Costa Maya, the water got rough. It didn't really affect anything on the ship except we could look out the window and see the water white-capping. When we arrived in Costa Maya there were 8 foot swells in the port so our catamaran snorkeling excursion got cancelled. Thank goodness! The water was really pounding that pier. We went into the port town and had a margarita and did some shopping. We tend to spend a lot more money in Costa Maya than anywhere else. I don't know why that is, but we got a couple of great Mayan masks and a ceramic iguana for our Caribbean collection.


In Cozumel Ronnie and I went into Cancun while the others stayed in Cozumel to shop. I'm glad we went to Cancun so I can say, "been there and done that." It is so Americanized it is a crazy clone of the Miami, Florida area. It would be really easy to forget that you were in Mexico.


As we debarked Cozumel and headed back to Galveston, we learned that there had been a major cold front move through Texas accompanied by lots of rain and even some snow! We had been experiencing 80 degree sunny days and were headed back to temps in the 30s and 40s...without so much as a jacket!

The cruise was fun but there were a couple of things I wish had been different...1) Benny was sick the entire cruise. He ate beef the first night (a delicious and tender prime rib) but he has some dietary issues and doesn't digest beef. Ruined his cruise. 2) My foot was swollen and painful throughout the cruise...so much so that I took unknown pain medication from a man I had never met before. He said he was a vet and they gave it to him at the VA for arthritis pain and swelling. I really didn't care. I was in so much pain that I was near tears. 3) We didn't really get to spend any time with the other couples we went with. Yes, we had a couple of meals together and had a drink in the bar together twice, but other than that we really didn't see them.

I can't complain. There were precious few children on the cruise so there wasn't a bunch of child-originated noise and nonsense. The weather was awesome. We had a great opportunity to relax and enjoy a mid-winter vacation, and of course, I got the opportunity for some great pics. I can't wait to do it all over again!!