A discussion about business ethics, character traits, integrity, and values

I was going to do some silly thing about kids and mothers, but I’ve decided on this, instead. I wrote it last year on Mother’s Day.

It’s Mother’s Day, and my father is dying. Again.

His first stroke was nearly four years ago. Doctors and machines and my mother’s faith kept him alive those first few days and weeks, and he got better. He could talk and respond, and we joked that he was about the same as before. A second stroke soon took care of that, though, and he wasted away to nearly nothing. But my mom takes care of him.

The people at the home are not diligent, not even consistent in caring for my dad, so mom learned what to do and she does it. She changes him, she cleans him, she turns him every couple of hours, she does his physical therapy. She spends about eight hours with him every day, usually in two-hour shifts, except when he is hospitalized for pneumonia, which happens about every two months. Then she just stays with him.

My dad’s old friends rarely stop by to see him, nor do his sons who live close by, but my mom never fails.

My dad always said that we should never let him stay in a home, but you can’t “just shoot me,” as he always said. I’m sure the years there have been long for him, somewhere in his awareness.

The years have been long for my mom, too, but it’s changed her. The last of her rough edges have been worn smooth by devotion. She knows no more anger, she holds no more grudges, she hides no more affection. She knows only love.

And whatever price that has cost my dad, I’m sure he has paid it willingly.