Back Home Again in Ohio

Well 7 hours later we are back home in Ohio. It was easier to say goodbye to Dad and Mom this time. I still don't know if it is the last time. I do think it is likely. After two weeks, I needed to see my own bed for a while. Plus going back to work will be good too. It was a special time. We got a lot done.

Here is a photo from 2002 of my brother Kevin and Dad working in the Woodshop...his favorite place other than Bonaire.

Leaves

My Dad is getting ready to leave. He once sang a song in his Barbershop Quartet, the Soundtracks, that brought the audience to tears called "Tying the Leaves". It is a very old song about a little girl who is sick and the doctor thinks she will die in the fall...when the last leaves fall. Her little friend understands this and ties the leaves onto the tree so that his playmate won't go away.

Listen to it here: http://moredomainsforless.com/audio/leaves.mp3

Lyrics:



I'M TYING THE LEAVES (SO THEY WON'T COME DOWN)


(E.S.S. Huntingdon / J. Fred Helf)Byron Harlan - 1907Also recorded by:Grandpa Jones



Playmates were they, girl and lad.
She's home today, he feels sad.
Doctor who calls, whispers low:"When the last autumn leaves fall, then she must go."
Lad, with a tear, climbs a tree."I'll keep her here." murmurs he.
Cop on the beat, loudly cries:"What are you doing lad?"

He replies:

CHORUS
"I'm tying the leaves so they won't come down,
So the wind won't blow them away,
For the best little girl in the wide wide world,
Is lying so ill today.
Her young life must go when the last leaves fall.
I'm fixing them fast so they'll stay.
I'm tying the leaves so they won't come down,
So Nellie won't go away."

Playmate, come out and play with me… Nellie, don’t go away..

CHORUS

My Dad

I love this shot of my dad in my hunting vest. It is at my house before we left for the fishing trip in August. He could not stay warm.

Back in Ohio

Well, I got the pictures downloaded at 5:30 a.m. and shortly there after saw my Mom was already blogging. I updated their blog with a cool slide show from yesterday. Here is the family pic we took.

The Worlds Most Interesting Man

A few months ago, my dad started mimicking a Columbian Coffee commercial where the guy gives his opinion on various subjects. The answer is always a dramatic...No!

He likes that one a lot.

How do you say goodbye?

Well, time for a blog. That is short for Web Log if you did not know it. So here I go. We just got done "saying goodbye" to my Dad in Chicago. I may see him again, but I don't think he will be as aware or the quality of the conversation will be as clear. It was beautiful and sad. This is the "gift" cancer gives you. The chance to say goodbye. But who wants to say goodbye to a 68 year old? Not me. Not my 66 year old mother. But it is part of living as my dad told my 9 year old daughter yesterday. It is OK.

To dig deeper you can see a very extensive 2 year blog of my parents at www.joesinformation.blogspot.com