On Monday morning I got up early and drove up to north Georgia to surprise my Mom & Dad with a visit. (I wrote about the possibility of surprising them in a recent blog, here.)
At around 4:30pm, I got off the elevator in their building, and called Mom from my cell phone as I walked down the hall to their apartment.
Hi Mom!
Are you at work?
Nope, I have the day off.
You go back to work tomorrow?
Nope, I took a few days off.
What have you been doing today?
Well... driving. What are you doing?
Getting ready to watch Jeopardy. There was a three-way tie yesterday!
(I knock on the door)
Wait a minute, somebody's at the door...
It's ME! I'm at the door!
Yay! She laughed and was completely delighted with the surprise. Dad put down his cigar and came over to find out what was going on. Hugs all around!
I stayed two days, and it was a great visit. We went to get 'nanner pudding at Longstreet, we bought Mom a new pantsuit at Belk's, we had lunch at Red Lobster, Mom gave me some old pictures, we ate pancakes at IHOP, and Dad dictated his obituary to me.
Having elderly parents is weird sometimes. I'm sure a lot of people their age are a challenge to be in the same room with, but Mom and Dad are so sweet. They are trying so hard to get everything in order for their family so that when they are gone everything goes as easy as it can.
So Dad decided to dictate his obituary to me. He was reluctant to include his Bachelor of Science degree from Va Tech (even though he is the only one in his family to get a degree) or his Army career (which included serving during World War II), he really just wanted to say that he dedicated his life to Christ in 1930 and has spent the years since being active in the Church, and that he raised two daughters and one son and has spent 70+ years married to his wife. He told me that his family and his church mean more than anything else.
Mom, however, disagreed, so I am assigned to write up two obituaries; one including his degree/miliary and one without.
I am also typing up one for Mom, who, as Dad said, spent her whole life cooking for him and raising three blasted kids. I'm not sure how that'll translate into an obituary, but I'll see what I can do.
Tonight, after sitting in Atlanta traffic on 85 and Georgia road construction between Macon and Valdosta and listening to my iPod for almost 8 hours straight, I am HOME!
Whew!
