I stayed awake at Dad's side through the early morning hours and during that time, I was able to talk to him a bit. It turned out to be a great conversation which I recorded in part below:
There was silence in the room for a while and then I asked, "How serious do you think this is?"
"Very serious," he responded slowly.
"How are you feeling?"
"Appalled. The [disabiling effects of serious medical conditions that] I’ve seen in others is going to happen to me now."
I didn't know how to respond to this so I stayed in silence for several minutes. Then asked, "You seem to intentionally divert attention from yourself to others. Why?"
"I’m sincerely interested in other people," he spoke slowly enough that I could capture every word. "I think one of the best ways to love God’s children is to show interest in them. And you show interest in them by remembering what’s going on in people’s lives and ask questions about that."
This reminded me of how he asked about Alicia as soon as I saw him yesterday. "Did you do that when you were a teacher?"
"Yes. I tried to have the same attitude The easiest way to love them was to know what life was like for them. Know what kinds of problems they had in their homes."
"Was your teacher of the year award a result of this approach with the kids?"
"The teacher who put forward my name as the parent of one of the children I helped. Mr. Tuttle."
Another few minutes of silence then he asked, "How do you think that Julie relies on you?"
I talked about how she asks me for advice, how I get the sense that she watches me and my life.
"It’s obvious that she’s relied on you quite heavily. Whenever she’d e-mail asking for advice, your e-mail was always right on and perceptive. She’s really a wonderful person. I admire her. As I admire you."
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