Journey to the Destination, Part II

During my Maritimes vacation, it finally dawned on me that my dad is old. As in seniors care home old.

As recently as 5 years ago, my Dad was active, talkative, bossy, ignorant, and had a fiery temper. I remember how he used to argue vehemently with my mom, with my sister, and even at me sometimes.  He isn't a selfish person because he worked very hard to provide for his family, and sacrificed his career so that my sister and I could have a brighter future. However, I would not describe him as a very self-aware person either, because that is the underlying reason to explain why he got into arguments with all his family members.  But he is who he is, and I didn't get a choice on who my father would be.
As recently as last year, we went on a family trip to Las Vegas, and he was more than able to keep up with us when we toured Las Vegas and also the Grand Canyon.

But then earlier this year something happened to him.  He was walking in his home when he fell down for no reason.  The next time it happened, he fainted.  My mom rushed him to Emergency at the hospital.  The doctor later told us that he had a mild stroke.  It was quite the surprise to me because he was healthy and showed no prior warning signs.
Luckily, there were no complications and he recovered full use of all limbs.

When I was a young lad, I never had a father who would throw the ball around with me, take me to see hockey games, or even explain to me the ways of the world. But even this twinge of resentment that lingered around in the depths of my mind has disappeared as I watched my dad during this vacation.  It was on this vacation to the Maritimes that I noticed that he is walking noticeably slower now, and talking slightly slower, more subdued nowadays. And more significantly, he no longer shows the fire of his character.
My role now, as it always has been, and always ever shall be, is to play the filial son.

Because I Love Her

My daughter will turn 12 next month.   She is still scared of the dark. I asked her why she is scared. She doesn't know why. 
I got a little frustrated when she told me this. I mean, she is almost a teenager, what teenager is scared of the dark in this day and age when kids grow up so fast?
But then I am reminded again that she is not like other 11.5 year old girls.
She told me that she  also wants to stay up late too. I tell her that you can't have it both ways. And I had no interest in watching whatever kiddy show that she wanted to watch.  So I explained to her in detail how to turn on the lights near where she wants to sit or watch TV, and then to turn on the next set of lights when she is ready to go upstairs to bed.   We walked through a couple times how to turn on and off the right set of lights so that she is never in the dark.
So now when I go upstairs, she is learning to stay up later and later all by herself downstairs.