Myfatherhadbeehelplessafterastroke。I’dnursedhimbacktohealth,butIwasbeginwe’dtakenastepback>
Am’spassing,ItookatrayintothegardenforDad。Helikedtositohesunshine。
“Teaandbiscuits,Dad。”Isaidcheerfully。
&urnedaway,startled,butnotbeforeI’dseeearonhischeek。
“Whatalovelyday。”Iburbled,givinghimtimetoself。
“YesJill,”hesaidatlast,“It’sbeautiful。”
“Trytoeatsomething,Dad。”
Hesighedahesky。
“Thewillbehomefromsiled。“Thenyou’llhaveafightonyourhandsifyouwantabiscuit。”
HechuckledsoftlyandIhadtoswallowthelumpwhichhadriseninmythroat。
“Iloveyou,Dad。”Irestedmyhandonhisshoulder。“Please,don’tgiveup。”
“Idon’tknowwhatyoumean。”Heshrugged。
“Yes,youdo。You’vefoughteveryinchoftheinning,too,butlately,it’sasifyou’vejustgivenup。”
Heheavedasighandpickedupabisibblingatitbefatme。
Dad’sdeepuzzledthedoctor,too。
“I’msorry。There’snothingphysigwithyourfather,apartfromwhat’sleftoverfromthestroke。Aally,well,Ireallydon’tthihingtoworryaboutthere。”
&ht。Dad’sbloodtestscamebackdfurthertestsshowedn。Heshouldhavebeengtogetbetter—buthe>
Itriedallkiotempthisfailie。Ieverpersuadedhimtoeforadriveiassoohome,he’dsinkbatoapathyandI’dthink,I’mlosinghimagain。
WhatmadeitsomuchhardertobearwasthefactthatIrememberedhimsowellasayoungman。He’dbeensofullyandlife,gmeonhisshoulders,gmearoundtheparkandgmeupinhisarms。
&offforawalkandalways,always,I’drunoutofthehousebehindhim。He’dhadsuchazestforlifethatitbrokemyhearttoseehimnow,sittingoutinthegarden,ablaoverhisknees,gaziospace。
Whecametolivewithusafterthestroke,he’dbeenbed-ridden。IsmiledasIrememberedhowMeghadfinallygothimup。
DearMeg。She’dbroughtinastithegardenaraightupstairswithit!
Ifollowedher,wwhatohsheto。ShedepositedthestiDad’sbed,thensteppedbaghertaillikemad。
Dadliftedhisheadfromthepillow。
“What’sthis?”
Shebarkedeversosoftlyaickwithhernose。
“Forme?”Dadchuckled,reagforit,butMegwastooquiatchedthestickback。
Itturoagame。EverytimeDadtriedtotouchherstick,shewhippeditaway。Atlast,shedroppeditohistime,Meglethimpickitup。
“Jill!”Dadshouted。“Jill!”
&ohimhewaslaughing。“Wouldyouhelpmedowairs?”heasked。“I’dliketositoutinthegarden。Ithrowthestieg。”
“Ofcourse,Dad。”I’dbeenthrilledandfromthatmomenton,he’dprogressedinleapsandbounds。
Meghadbeeome,aplaymatetothe,butshe’dbeensomuchmoretoDad。She’dbeenwithhimallthetime,keepinghimpanyforthehourshehadtospendalone。Nowonderhe’ddeed。Hehadtimetositandbroodandthink,andsadnesshadsettledallaroundhim。
Thefollowingday,IsettledDadinthegardeheplayichfuleye。
“Iwon’tbelong,”Ipromised。“You’llbeallright,Dad?Ifyouwantanythiitforyou。”
“Thanks,love。”Dadsmiled。“Don’tworry。I’llkeepahings。”