Last night my dad woke up in his chair, looked me straight in the eye, and in the clearest voice said "HOT DOG!" For the past few weeks, his speech has become very labored and difficult to understand, but last night he appeared very coherent - his voice strong. Jennifer has been caring for him around the clock and she came over to the chair where we were. He was looking straight at me and said it again "HOT DOG." Everything in me was ready to comply with his request. My mind began working on where I could pick a hot dog up fast rather than making one from scratch. I knew we had no hot dogs in the house. As I began to reply "Ok, Dad... I'll go get one at Costco" my sister interceded and said "No Dad. Its late. Lets have some ice cream instead." She was right. It was past 8:30 and my mom was already asleep in bed.
For a second though, I let myself believe that he was fine and that there wasnt any sickness in his body. For one second, I let myself hope. His voiced seemed so unburdened and confident and reasonable. His eyes were not tired and confused. He really seemed like my dad again.
Jennifer went into the kitchen and Dad's eyes looked straight ahead at the tv- resuming that cloudy stare. Then he barked in my direction "TOMORROW."
Goal for today: bring Dad a hotdog from Costco... maybe two.
Costco also carries Hebrew National which are pretty yummy. It's a toss up between Ballpark and H.N. though...Hope he enjoys the dog. Hugs and ♥
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