Me Thinks I Was Adopted

Saw my dad today. He is a retired teacher that lives out of state, or rather, I live out of state. He still lives in Michigan where I grew up. He and my mom divorced when I was 29. That was about 25 years too late. To the best of my knowledge, my mom is living a life of martyrdom taking care of her ailing mother.

My father, got remarried a few years back. She's a nice enough woman, I definitely think of her as my "father's wife." Just can't see her as a step-mother. They were in their 60's when they got married and she wore a full length, puffy, white wedding gown, bridesmaids and all. It was kind of weird, to say the least. Brides should never look like mutton dressed as lamb (enough said.) If you're thinking maybe it was the only wedding in her life, no, she had been married before, has 3 grown kids. Yes, I welcomed her into my family but I don't need a step-mother, thank-you-very-much.

But, I digress. As I was saying, I saw my dad today. In his retirement, he has chosen to keep himself busy by driving cars for Enterprise Car Rental. He and his sidekick, drove to Chicago to drop off a car. We met for lunch and they turned around to drive back to Michigan. All in a days work.

Here is a snippet from a Day in the Life of Dad:
1. Drive 5 hours to a suburban Chicago car dealer.
2. Call daughter (me) because he's lost.
3. Find destination, call daughter because he's no longer lost.
4. Drive to second car dealer.
5. Call daughter (still me) because he's lost again.
6. Tries to follow daughters directions.
7. Call daughter, still lost.
8. Ignores daughter's advice, backtracks 20 miles and basically starts the route over again.
9. Finds car dealership 3 hours late.
10. Call daughter (painfully, still me) says he'll be at the restaurant for lunch in 1 hour.

Wait for it... Wait for it...

11. Call daughter, he's lost.
12. Very patient daughter (who has phone in a death grip) gives directions
13. Father calls and says he's at the restaurant. It's the wrong restaurant, on the wrong road.
14. Daughter (why, oh why me?) says "don't move, I'm coming."

Have lunch with dad and sidekick. Sidekick is an 81 year-old man with a significant hearing problem. Dad blames him for getting lost. Sidekick hears this, rolls his eyes and looks at me like, "come on gal, you grew up with him, surely you can't be surprised at the events of today." The sage old man was right. I wasn't surprised. My father is a 65 year old college graduate who needs to find the yellow brick road because he needs a brain way more than that old scarecrow.

Yep, sometimes, me thinks I was adopted.

*Note from the infertility front: Still barren. On a break. Uterus likely full of cobwebs. IVF looks pointless. Still looking for the silver lining everyone says should be here.

*Note from the pet owner: Thank you all for your kind sentiments regarding Schuster. I still look for him around every corner and occasionally indulge in a daydream where I hear his footsteps down the hall. Your support has eased the sadness. Many thanks.