Surprise!

We had quite a surprise yesterday – Kate S. and Brianna were visiting Dad, and Marie/Obama happened to call, and while talking to Kate S., she mentioned that they’re going on a cruise, leaving March 7th!!! We had no idea – apparently Dad made the arrangements with Marie and then forgot all about it!!! We would have been totally shocked if we had shown up at his house on the 7th and found him gone, although we probably could’ve figured out where he went. When Dad goes on a trip, there are two main clues: he leaves HUGE bowls of food and water for the cat, and his battered olive green duffel bag goes with him. He has traveled all over the world with just that bag – he never takes much luggage.

We still don’t know where they’re going, but since it’s only a week, I’m guessing the Caribbean. Dad doesn’t go on cruises for the destination, he goes for the experience of being on the ship. Cruising is the safest way for him to travel these days, because there are railings and things to hold onto everywhere, and a very high staff-to-passenger ratio. He enjoys the food, and the feeling of the boat in motion, and smoking his cigar on a sunny deck. He doesn’t get off at any of the stops – the activities like hiking and such are too strenuous for him, sight-seeing is pretty pointless when you’re blind, and he says the shopping is just endless souvenir stands. Well, I take that back – he got off when he heard about a trip to the nude beach!!! He said it was the young women and older men who went nude, and that everybody else wore swimsuits or something.

I finally stopped procrastinating and called Mr. Shetty, Dad’s bank guy, to schedule an appointment for the three of us to meet. It’s way past time for me to “take over” managing Dad’s finances – Marie deals with the day-to-day details of his bill-paying and deposits in his checking account, but his investment account is at another bank, and I’ve just been letting it sit, but of course, that won’t work in the long-term. I’ve never had to deal with large amounts of money, or stocks and bonds and stuff like that – except for the Tofutti shares that Dad bought his vegetarian daughter for her 13th birthday! It’s weird – even though I’m about as empowered a woman as you can get, there are two areas where I just fall right into “helpless woman” mode – financial stuff, and repairs/construction.

With regards to financial stuff, I’m in better shape than my grandmother, who had only a high school diploma and depended on my grandfather to do all their banking, and my mother, who was such a financial disaster area that her house had to be put into a trust to protect it from her creditors. But I’m still really nervous about taking on the responsibility of Dad’s money. I always thought he would be the one advising me when I had money (given my tendency toward nonprofit work: never), not the other way around. I feel like I’m suddenly being catapulted from my comfortable “kid” position into the stressful “person in charge” role, and I feel unprepared.