2AM Traffic

My mother hasn't been feeling well. Her diet is pretty messed up right now because just about every food she eats aggravates her stomach. She's been eating these Del Monte fruit ice cream bars non-stop for months. Something has to change or she's going to get really sick. Thankfully she's seeing a doctor about it later this month. She really needs to start taking better care of herself. She'll be 60 next year and her body definitely doesn't work the way it used to.

I have this fear, sometimes, that my dad is going to long outlive my mom. I love my dad, but I can't imagine being completely alone with him without my mom there as a occasional buffer. I was sitting at the kitchen table reading yesterday and my dad came in and started talking about her illnesses and his parents and where they came from and on and on for a half an hour. I barely said a word. I was amazed at how badly he must have needed someone to actually pay attention to what he was saying. He's got a lot on his mind, but his mind works in a way that won't let him fully accept the things he thinks about. And my dad loves to talk, not with people, but at them. He loves an audience with whom he can share observations. He really would have been a great motivational speaker. Or a priest. He would have made a fantastic priest, if he didn't have such a convoluted view of organized religion. I can't imagine what he'd be like without my mom around. Or I can, and it disturbs me a little.

My sister's ex-fiance showed up late last night looking for her. She broke up with him a few months ago and he's a wreck. She wasn't here, so my dad took him outside and tried to set him straight about showing up at the house unannounced. The guy lives in Toronto, which means he must have bussed here not really caring about what would happen once he showed up. They had been dating for seven years, from about age 18 to 25. I can't imagine going through that and having it end after such a long time. I've been in far shorter relationships and thought I'd never recover emotionally from the breakups. A part of me hates to say it, but after awhile you get used to the idea that relationships can end, that they only succeed when and if everything lines up correctly. To think that you're part of this invincible thing that goes on for years and to see it destroyed must be tough. I understand why he doesn't get it, and why he can't let go, but I wish he'd do a little growing up for my family's sake.

Dad took me out to Walmart last night and we picked up some stuff for the new apartment. The joys of coffee tables, end tables and bathroom accessories! So many aisles of products I didn't think I'd ever care two craps about! When we got back we watched the season nine finale of The X-Files. The plan today is to see a matinee showing of the new movie in Whitby, since it isn't playing in Peterborough any longer, but my folks have been late risers this week. It's 12:30 and they're still in bed. Crazy kids.