its 6:45.....

Its 6:45 and the phone rings like it does EVERY night....don't get me wrong this is not a bad thing....well not always....and let me say that my dad is 84 years old

my dad used call every few days after he moved away to Arizona....it was fine...there were days that I couldn't talk and sometimes he would understand and other days he wouldn't. I can remember once when he got upset because I couldn't talk because I had to pay attention to the 5 year old demanding my attention.....

There have times in the past that i have tuned dad out....because almost every day hearing about his entire day....yeah sometimes i tuned him out....I learned my lesson with this once because I didn't pay attention and then when he didn't call me the next night I had not realized it was the day he was having medical procedure....nothing big....but he was tired and didn't call....

Then a few years ago--i had started paying attention by this time and he was not calling every day yet at this point--he was to have a angioplasty done on his heart....he had been tired and having some problems, the dr thought he had a mild heartache.

The dr was told to call me when the procedure was done, so my phone rings, its a dr...and he says to me that they have schedule the bi-pass for 8 that night....wait what bi-pass....well the surgeon called me before the heart dr and I didn't know that the angioplasty didn't work....OMG I need to be there...my boss said go....so I jump on a plane to AZ...

well due to emergencies and what have you my fathers bi-pass was postponed till the morning...I got to his house and early in the morning I made it to the hospital just as they wheeled him out of his room....insisting they can't take him till Amy is there....

So I wait...wait and get updates....I have to call everyone...brother 1, brother 2, uncle 1, uncle 2, aunt...cousin....a lady says to me....mostly men in your family, I said yeah how do you know....women would do a phone tree....I told her what makes it worse is sometime the brothers get pissed if I call one before the other....

did is fine...it was a triple bi-pass and he will have to stay in the hospital then a recovery place for a while....I go home...brother 1 has a business trip the week dad is in he recovery center and checks on him....cousin is traveling through AZ during the first week home....he is fine....

HOWEVER now I have ordered him to check in with me every day....even if I am not home he is to leave a message on the machine....

so it has now been a few years everything is going smoothly....

its 6:45 the phone rings...guess who....so how are you ...fine...how about you...fine...well not really...why dad what happened....I fell today....

he was helping a neighbor trim her tree and turned the wrong way and went down to the ground...his hip hurts the neighbor helped him up....he feels beat up and brusied and beaten but will be fine he says.....yes these phone calls are good, but they do stress me a little and make me worry....

I love my family and I love my dad....I don't know how I will handle it when I get that call...everyone around me tells me that I will be a wreck and fall apart...I think it depends on the situation and where I am in my life....

I keep telling myself that it is wonderful that my dad is completely honest with me....I tell myself that is it great that my daughter is completely honest with me about her life and how she feels about mine....yeah it is 6:45 the phone rings and the girls yell "its grandpa"....