Acceptance

[mrdreamjeans]

I've been out of sorts all day and very emotional. I haven't felt well; I took my truck to the dealer for the third time for the same problem; I'm getting the runaround on my upcoming job (I get annoyed with people who don't do what they say they are going to do or when they say they are going to do it). I had a shouting match with one of my nephews about his brother and it's 95 friggin' degrees and 92% humidity out.... and... oh well, you get the drift of the kind of day it is.

I was just watching a program about Alzheimer's Disease and got all emotional. Leeza Gibbons and Maria Shriver were on; both have parents with the disease. As anyone knows who has read my recent posts, I've been worried that my Dad may have the first symptoms of this illness and something said on the program hit home.

As bummed as I feel today, Maria Shriver gave me an "AH HA" moment. She said she had to learn to "accept her dad for who he is today..., not think of him at 40 or 50. Keith (mncuddlecub) suggested something similar, wondering if I was embarrassed and frustrated because I am trying to keep Dad as he was, not allow him to be 74.

These statements have jolted me and put me in my place. What does it matter if Dad makes a mistake or is slow to do or react to anything? I don't need to correct him when he says it's Thursday and it's Wednesday or any other mundane repetitious thing he might say. I just need to try to let these things go. It time to accept my Dad as he is today and go with the flow. I can mourn who he used to be, privately and on my own time.