2/26/10

2/26/10

“I was raised in a fish factory,” says Dad, when I tell him I have brought some fresh salmon fillets for his dinner. He's referring to the fact that his hometown, Gloucester, Mass., is one of the country's busiest fishing ports. When he was thrown out of World War II because of his fragile knees, he wound up cutting fish on the docks in Gloucester. He always used to tell the story of a co-worker who went to scratch his itching ear, forgetting the blade in his hand. The severed ear was retrieved, and rushed to the hospital, where it was reattached. He never forgot the importance of a sharp knife and kept the knives in his kitchen sharpened to a lethal edge.

We brought Dad to see his long-term internist, Dr. Hammer, on wednesday, trying to get to the bottom of his sore arm. Jaelynn got him up early to bathe and get dressed, and he was pretty irritated with the whole process. Dr. Hammer wasn't worried about the arm – he said it seemed like a tendon injury and that we should just let it heal as long as it doesn't get worse. He gave him a general inspection, and discovered a broken tooth, so we have a dentist in our future, along with a dermatologist, and an audiologist . . . for someone as healthy as he is, Dad sees a lot of doctors.

“I think I will despair if this cat dies before I do,” says Dad, reaching down to pet Kristen, who is hanging around his legs. It's definitely a situation I worry about, since she's about as old as he is, in cat years. I don't know if we could get away with substituting another cat, though I have a good candidate – Iris is a middle-aged, sweet tuxedo lady who would love to be an only cat. A couple days ago, Dad and Charlie were on the phone, and Charlie, who used to have much-beloved siamese cats of his own, said something, and Dad responded, “I don't have a pussy!” which sent Kate S. into spiels of laughter.

Today's another snow day for the public schools. “You used to love snow days,” I tell Dad, remembering how pissed he was when he missed a precious snow day because he was on sabbatical in Honduras. “I still do!” he replies, emphatically.