Saturday, January 17, 2009

A Date and Old Man

Daughter had a date today. I drove her to Town, and she met her sex offender boy friend at the movie theater to see Mall Cop. She called Sister to tell her about her date. Sister wasn't sure I should let her see this guy. I pointed out that not much could happen in a crowded movie theater, and assured Sister that Daughter would not be hanging out alone at his house, and I wouldn't let him pick her up and take her anyplace. Daughter was afraid he had changed since she last saw him 2 1/2 years ago. I asked if she thought he'd grown a second head or something. That made her laugh, and she assured me he isn't an alien. I don't anticipate this romance lasting very long, and told Daughter that. I told her my hope was that they'd have some fun before it ended. Amazingly, she didn't argue and tell me they were destined to be married.
Today was the first time I'd been out since Tuesday. The roads weren't very good-- lots of drifting snow. I got behind a plow that was working on the shoulder of the road. What he was doing was stirring up the snow so the wind could blow it back across the road. He was making things much worse. If I had known how bad the roads were, Daughter wouldn't have gone to the movie.
While she was at the movie I went to visit Old Man. They were rearranging the furniture to bring in a hospital bed when I got there. It's a challenge, since they live in a trailer-- and it's a single wide. He will be in the living room. Both his daughters and one of his sisters were there today. His liver is failing, so he has become quite yellow. He asked me how long before he dies. I told him I keep being reminded that I can't predict life and death, but told him I didn't think it would be long. He seemed satisfied with that. We picked out Scriptures for his funeral-- his kids have been getting all the plans made. They have special music lined up already. I am glad that I will be here to do his funeral. I want to celebrate his life. We talked again about his salvation, and he told me who he was most looking forward to seeing. He is a man of deep faith.
I always consider it a great honor to accompany people as they move toward death. It is a very sacred time, and the conversations I have are wonderful. I remember one man who the family thought was very confused. One day I was visiting and he said, "Let's get going." I asked him where he was going. He sounded surprised that I didn't know when he responded, "Why to heaven!" Those words were a source of great comfort to his family.

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