Family Ties

In the past three weeks, our family has suffered a great loss. My dad had been ill, as I wrote in my last entry. Then, without warning, my mom suffered a ruptured aneurysm in her brain, had endovascular surgery, and is still recovering in the hospital. Four days after her emergency, my dad passed away.

I have so many, many fond memories of my parents together, and as I deal with the shock of recent events, I take solace in remembering some of the funny times I shared with them in the past few years. When my husband, daughter and I lived in New York, I would sometimes come alone for a visit to my folks' home in Massachusetts. After dinner, following their custom, we would watch "The Match Game" and "Wheel of Fortune" downstairs in the playroom, which my father had built years before. Dad's finger was always poised over the mute button on the remote control, ready to cancel the noise of commercials. The three of us would shout out answers to game questions, or try to solve the word puzzle.

Mom was always the best player, but Dad was master of the remote.

It's a sweet memory.