Thursday, January 21, 2010

Always Sharp

My father is almost 88 years old. He's close to being deaf, he's unsteady on his feet and he has limited use of his right arm. However, his mind is as sharp as ever. He is a total blast to talk to. We all had lunch before Christmas. Before we parted and while giving me a hug he said, "Remember the good times."
Maybe ten or so years ago, my mom and dad, Bruce and I were returning from somewhere - maybe Battle Creek. I was driving, Bruce was in the passenger seat and Mom and Daddy were in the backseat. We were on a freeway near Lansing. It was pretty crowded. In my rear view mirror I saw a car loaded with young girls speeding in and out of traffic. They were having a great time cutting off traffic.
People like that are dangerous and, frankly, make me mad. So when these little chickies tried to cut me off, I sped up a little. When they tried to get in back of me so they could zoom around on the other side, I would slow up a bit. After a few minutes, the girls were screaming and making hand gestures that were not very nice. This went on for about five minutes. I was having a bit of fun all by myself while everyone else was involved in conversation.
"You're doing that on purpose, aren't you?" It was my dad. No one else noticed what was going on, but my dad is extremely observant. I smiled and said, "Yep." NOTHING gets by my dad. Nothing!
I had to explain to everyone else what was going on. The girls finally turned off and the rest of the trip was uneventful.

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