I call him as often as I can. After all, being 2000 miles away is very hard now that he is 80.

His time, lately is filled with wood carvings of the "Peanuts Gang'. He's amazing! Still keep busy. But sadly has stopped gardening. Just a few flowers now, he says. The outdoor mold etc gives him some bad skin ailments.

He and my stepmom are fine and healthy, basically. She still drives (Dad has had macular degeneration for years).

Each time we converse I always ask him questions about his life and with Mom. None of my siblings have done that. It's just fun to learn such things as:

My oldest sister had a middle name for a few days..then they removed it!

My name was the only one that they chose because they just 'liked it'. Everyone else was named after someone.

After Mom/Dad married, and she quit work, she got a phone call because she owed her employer money she'd borrowed. Seems she borrowed it when she moved out to the YWCA and away from her horribly evil stepmother! I said to Dad, "Gosh, I'll be you wondered 'who did I marry?'". he laughed. They were so in love and paid off the debt $20/week.

This time of year is especially hard...I miss Mom so much. In fact, I may send Dad a M'day card because he's mothered us four for almost 33 years.