I spent today in Baton Rouge at the hospital visiting my father and mother. When I got there, my dad was gone to dialysis, so my mom and I sat in his room and talked for a while, until I convinced her to accompany me to the hospital cafeteria for lunch. Eventually, my dad came back to the room. He looked way better than he did a week ago. He's still a shell of the person he was a couple of months ago though. But, seeing him improved makes it a lot easier for me to go ahead and proceed with my previously scheduled vacation this week.

While I was there, a woman came by the room to start the process for my father's continued dialysis once he returns home. Once again, I found myself in one of those weird situations that growing older brings to you. My mom was presented with form after form to sign and I could tell that it was really upsetting here and she felt like she didn't really know what all she was signing. So, I dutifully grabbed the stack of papers and read through every one of them and assured her that she hadn't signed anything that she shouldn't have.

It's weird when you have to start caretaking your parents, even in small ways...