Had a really good visit with Megan and her friend Maria. Saturday evening we spent at my oldest brother’s. Meg and Steve really hit it off, was fun watching the two of them trading remarks. It was a pretty relaxing evening.

This morning, I skipped church and took the two girls to Ajax for lunch at the Mandarin. That is one of the best chinese buffets I’ve ever been in and the girls just love it. I was really surprised when the girls treated me to lunch. My little niece is an adult … how time flies

From Ajax we headed up to Lakefield to visit with dad. Megan wanted to see her poppa. I did what I could to prepare her for the changed man she was about to visit. Well, his appearance had changed a lot but he was still her poppa, just a very sick poppa. She didn’t outwardly show much reaction but then Megan has always been pretty good at keeping her own counsel.

While I had been on the phone every night with him I hadn’t seen dad for almost a week and was jolted at how changed he was in just that time. The most notable change was the swelling in his ankles. I put a call in to Steve right away and brought that to his attention as he has to take him to an appointment tomorrow while I’m taking Megan home.

Steve and Sandi joined us at the house after they picked up some slippers which he could just slip on. Thank God it’s summer and not winter. We didn’t stay really long as we could see dad tiring and he wouldn’t take us up on our suggestions to go lay down and rest. We realized that the only way he would rest would be if we left.

When I went to give him a hug goodbye I was jolted at the look of vulnerability on his face. It was something I’d never seen on my seemingly always healthy dad’s face. As I watched Megan say her goodbye’s to poppa I couldn’t help but wonder if it would be the last time she could do so, at least to hear him say ‘cya later love’ in return.

On our way home from dad’s I came down 45 to Baltimore and across to Burnham St. to pick up a few groceries. As I’m heading down Burnham a car driven by what looked like a young girl pulled out to cross traffic right in front of me heading south and another car heading north. I hit the brakes hard and watched the slow motion as it appeared that she almost came to a complete stop on the highway as the two vehicles were trying desperately to avoid hitting her. I was heading straight to a T-Bone on the passenger door. She finally hit the gas and cleared the highway just as I was about 6-8 feet away. Talk about heart pounding.

Guess I better call it a night.. got a long day tomorrow with a trip to London and back.