Thursday, August 28, 2008

I am packing!


I haven't abandon this little blog project. Stay tuned. I will have a lot to say soon. I am busy with last minute details. Picking up our malaria meds, dry cleaning, packing, haircuts for the boys, making tons of freezable food for the poor fellow we are leaving behind. (I made SIXTEEN calzones today!)
We leave THIS Sunday Morning at 3 AM (from Providence).
More later.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Priceless

New Passport overnight express mail-$174.00
Parking in Government Center Boston-$21.00
Lunch in Boston- $63.00
My father's best line of the day-priceless.

The passport lady asked my 87 year old father why he was going to India.
He said, "We are going to visit our daughter."
I saw that lady behind us look at me. Whatever. We got the goods.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Ouch











There. It is all done.
We all survived.
It hurt my wallet more than all our arms combined.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Why I am not Mad at Dad.

Of course I am frustrated that I had everything so neatly organized only to find myself in a marvelous mess.

My father is confused. He is 87 after all.

On the way home from the airport,I asked him how he had enjoyed Nantucket.
He said, "I had a great time, except I missed mom. Gee, I will be glad to see her. How is she doing?"

I could think of no other response then to say, "She is the same."

Then he said to me sadly, "I know she is gone. I had forgotten for a second."

The love.

Why I Live at the P.O. po'ed.

Scene of the Crime











Post Office
















Criminal
Mug Shot.














My to do list is endless.

One of my biggest travel fears has come to pass. I knew it was going to happen. I predicted it. My father has now lost every form of his identity.

He sort of knows where he is.
Whenever we drive any where, even down the street to the market, he always asks me where we are going 4 or 5 times,like he has never asked before. Long trips are really hard. It must be so scary, to be driving along, then start looking around and wonder to yourself over and over again, "Where am I going?"

He is so confused. I am sad watching him slip further and further away. He is sitting across from me now with his post op foot up on pillows reading the Sunday paper. We had each other as we watched Mom fall deeper and deeper into madness. It is weird watching alone.

I do have my family of course, but they are not here daily. Lately, I have been farming him out. Everyone wants to see him before we go to India. He is so excited about India. He loves India.Whenever there is a lull in conversation, I bring up India. He wishes he was there now.

We have been taking him here and there.Last month Jo took him to Fisher Island, Florida where he visited my sister Moy, my Aunt Chris (my mother's twin) and my brother Christopher.They took my brother in law Brian's company jet so he didn't need any id. You can read all about this(and see photos) in my sister Jo's blog www.latikaroy.org/jo'sBlog His passport was safely tucked in MY important documents.

Two weeks ago, my husband, boys and I took my father up for an over night stay at my brother Owen's place in Waterville Valley, NH. My brother took him up on the Summer ski lift to enjoy the view(Exhibit A). That is when he thinks he lost his wallet with his state id. That was no immediate cause for alarm. We can replace that soon enough.

This next plot twist is keeping me up at night. My stomach is in knots. Last Sunday my father went to visit my sister Moy in Nantucket. I could not accompany him because the boys were in camp that week. She booked him a flight out of Providence. All he had to do was show some form of identification. I shook as I handed his passport(already containing his India Visa) to him. PLEASE DO NOT LOSE THIS. IT WILL BE THE END OF THE WORLD. "I won't" he said.

Robert(also known as Fabio and this is a long story : he is going back to Robert in the blog because he is only really "Fabio" in Hawaii and it is getting confusing)was given a special boarding pass so he could accompany my father to the gate. He made sure his passport was in his pocket when he boarded the plane.

I sent my sister an email entitled "IMPORTANT" I wrote , As soon as dad gets off the plane ask him for his passport. Keep it for him until he leaves. Hold on to it until you absolutely positively have to give it up to him. I repeated my "End of the world" line, because I thought it was so clever.

Moy took me very seriously. We are all baffled. She was able to follow him to the last security check point and watch him as he sat. She had JUST tucked his passport in his pants pocket. Somewhere between the Nantucket Airport and T.F. Green in Providence (an hour out of our sights) he lost his passport. We are supposed to leave in 3 weeks.

Yesterday, I went to the post office with my father. I planned to fast track it. I was told at the latest by August 25. That would give me FIVE days to get the Visa taken care of. Mercy. I am starting to panic a little. Kim, the postal lady (she is taking the picture of my father) was very nice. She told me my best bet would be to call the State Department in Boston. She said "you are going to get sent all over the place. Keep following the instructings and keep at it until you get a person" Then I have to state my case, beg for an appointment, and schlep my entire family to Boston.

To make matters more complicated, my father had outpatient surgery on his toe on Friday and is being transported in a wheel chair.

But I laugh. My father's response to all of this is, "Boy, The Federal Government sure is cracking down"

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Picture Only


In their traveling hats. They look like British Punks. Up next:Shots!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Pictureless blog.

I forgot to bring my camera with me when I went to The Providence Children's Museum yesterday, therefore I get no credit. Fabio and I decided to split the boys and spend quality time with each of them. Owen and Fabio went for a bike ride and Enzo and I were planning to go to The Children's Museum.

First, I had to go to AAA to get some New England Road Maps. Not for these activities, but for the future. When I came back, Fabio told me that my father had come over to our house to announce that he was walking to the Noon Mass. The Church is just across the Providence College campus, which is a half a block from our house. My father also wanted to see if Fabio needed the keys to his house for "whatever reason."

I asked Fabio if he gave my father a ride to Mass. He said "No. Should I have?" I am like, duh."Was there a pause between his two statements?" He said, "Actually, he came back to ask me about the keys." I know that my husband cannot read minds, but this practically screams, "May I have a ride to Mass?"

So Enzo and I drove over to pick him up. He was thrilled to see me in a car. His feet have been hurting a lot lately. I used to walk across campus with him while the boys rode their bikes,lately I have been driving him. I was telling him about our plans for the day. I said , "so Enzo and I are going to Wickenden Street for Pizza, then downtown to a furniture store and then to the Providence Children's Museum for 3 hours. Do you want to come?"

Never in a million years did I expect his, "That sounds great. Would you mind if we just let Eddie out first?"

We had so much fun. We ran into a couple in their late 60's. They were there with their grandchildren. The woman walked up to my father and said, "Are you Owen McGowan?" My father looked so surprised. He kind of blushed. She said, "I am MaryLou Viverios.I was so sorry to hear about Pat" She and her husband had lived a block away from us in Fall River,Massachusetts when I was growing up. I was in grades 4 through 8 with their son Brett. They were watching Brett's kids!

My dad was having the greatest time. It was almost as if he was a child. He enjoyed each new display more than the last. He didn't get on the floor and start playing or anything. He was certainly intrigued. He kept saying this: "I can see why a child would like this Museum. I even like it!" He must have said that same statement 8 or 9 times, with equal enthusiasim each time.

An hour after meeting couple number one, we met couple number two. This time it was Christine, Clyde, and their daughter Sarah. They used to live 4 houses away from my parents in Somerset, Massachusetts.

When Fabio and I first moved back to the mainland from Honolulu we lived in Somerset with my parents. We had the front half of their 1750's home on the water. It was gorgeous. Our half was two stories. It had a little kitchen, 2 full baths, 2 bedrooms, a dining room and a living room. Each room was tiny but charming. Really charming. Great views.

Somerset,Massachusetts has got to be the most boring town on planet earth. It is full of (perfectly lovely) folks all between the ages of 70 and 90. Its culinary delicacies include over breaded Chinese food served by Portugese immigrants. It just doesn't work.

We lived in Somerset until we found the perfect house (in Providence ,RI). That ended up taking 11 months. One day my husband, kids and I were playing in the yard when a young woman strolled by with a baby in the baby carriage.

We flagged her down and started talking. We told her that we had just moved from Hawaii a month earlier. She said, "My husband is from Hawaii" Shut up! Fabio knew him. Not well, but c'mon! Clyde used to work for a dentist friend of Fabio's. Clyde makes teeth. He is really good at it. They have a friend named Gino in common too. Nuts.

And they were at the Children's Museum yesterday. Small town, small world. Teeny tiny.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Uniforms.


Look at my nephew and niece. Aren't they cute? Anand has graduated from Boston University and is excelling in his field. Advertising. Cathleen is at Boston College majoring in theology. I showed my boys this picture in order to prepare them for the uniforms that they must wear at their school, Ann Mary, in India. Always the cut up, Owen said, "Mom!That skirt will cover my knees! I like my knees!"

"The pants will too, girlfriend" countered Enzo. They are so funny!

Neither are thrilled about the uniforms. They are thrilled about India however. I have never seen so many bold X's on a calendar in my life! We are leaving the U.S August 31st and staying for three months. I am so excited to show these kids the land that I speak of so much. I was 25 the last time I was in India. I arrived on my birthday. It was such a life changing experience for me. I loved every single minute of it. I was there for 4 months and I never wanted to leave. I remember sitting next to a French girl on the airplane coming home. We both saw the New York skyline come into view. She had never been to America. We said "New York" at the exact same time in decidedly different tones. I love New York, but not that day. I wanted to go back to New Delhi.

I spoke of India so much when I arrived home in America. I guess wearing bindis on my forehead daily was kind of a conversation starter. Five years after my return,I visited a friend of mine in San Francisco. He introduced me to his new friends with, "This is Lucy, she just got back from India."