what you're looking at here is my dad's left elbow. the hardware is his latest addition, thanks to a not so graceful fall from a ladder, taking place in his garage while trying to pick up a heavy box from somewhere up high. since this story has a happy ending, i'll go ahead and tell it....

last wednesday around 900pm i get home from work and i'm pretty beat. i was attempting to have some romantic time with my love, when all of a sudden the phone rings. normally, i wouldn't answer it, but something in my gut said to pick it up. i didn't recognize the number which was making it all the more mysterious. so i pick up the phone and this is how it goes down...

me.. ''hello?''
dad.." hi honey, i've had an bit of an accident''
me.. " WHAT?? WHERE ARE YOU??? ARE YOU OK???"
dad..." i'm fine, i think i broke my elbow, i'm waiting to be taken to the hospital near you, i think i need surgery''
me.. " I'LL BE RIGHT THERE!!"

so, natural, i went into panic/nurture mode. i mean, he's my dad, i'm his only kid, and his wife just left town that morning. matt and i arrive at the hospital around 10, where he's chillin' in a hospital bed, waiting for the sweet nurse to bring him some drugs. at this point i think i had tunnel hearing, because all i heard was something about surgery, blood thinners and his heart. long story short, and just in case you can't put it together.. my father had a heart attack years ago, because of this he is on blood thinners. because he needs surgery, he should be off them for two weeks before, but because he needs the surgery the very next day, every doctor must sign off on this because he could bleed to death from the operation... ya dig? ya, totally fucked up.

so, i canceled my next two days of work, and sat with him at the hospital from wednesday night until friday afternoon when i could take him home. upon reaching his home on friday all the way until monday morning(when his wife returned) i was his daughter/nurse/ punching bag/support/ mean mom/ care taker/ bringer of the good drugs/ chef/ bandage changer/ and pretty much watch every 30 minutes or so. and i loved every minute of it. i didn't do it out of obligation, i was there because i couldn't imagine being anywhere else. i wanted to be there for him to comfort him, and because i love him so much, that hit hurts my heart. i would do it all over again, without a moment of hesitation. my sweet matt even got in on the events. he stayed right there with me, and helped me out. just by him being there for me, helped me be there for my dad.

so, with a plate and 6 screws, he plans on getting back to his golf game just as soon as humanly possible. i would like to just take a moment, and give a shout out to my right foot, who at the moment has 9 screws, putting my foot in the lead of having been the most screwed in the family...

i know, i know, but i couldn't resist...