When I began this blog in January 2009, I had no idea how many words I would come to write about my seventy-nine year old father. Our final year together was eventful.  Most of it rough.  And though we are now parted by death, I am certain Daddy’s Woody Allen-ish charm continues to bring smiles to a select group of fans who live with him beyond the veil.

My sister Christi and I, and my brother Jon, are the oldest fans he left behind.  But the last eleven months of his life,  Dad acquired a whole new set of fans and admirers at the nursing home where he lived.  Part of me wished that the ‘old folks’ and his host of caregivers could have known Daddy back in better days, when he was younger and could deliver his own dry wit zingers.  But, at the same time, I hated the circumstances that caused them to know my father at all.

So here, collected in real time, are the final bits and pieces of the last fourteen months of Dad’s life.  I plan to come back and visit often.  And while you’re here, I hope you enjoy your own visit.  To have nothing more important on our plates than to visit with some old fart, whether in a nursing home or somewhere else, sounds like a wonderful world to me.

1. February 20, 2009           Midwifery
2. March 5, 2009                 All Shook Up
3. April 22, 2009                 The Final Word?
4. April 28, 2009                 Good Night, Moonshadow
5. May 1, 2009                    Hope Chests
6. May 6, 2009                    The Garden Club
7. May 8, 2009                    Survivor
8. May 19, 2009                  Unplugged
9. May 21, 2009                  A Black & White World
10. May 25, 2009                  Help!
11. May 30, 2009                  Home Sweet Home
12. June 4, 2009                    Settling In?
13. June 6, 2009                    A Yankee Transplant
14. June 11, 2009                  No Matter
15. June 28, 2009                  The Quiet Supper Club
16. July 6, 2009                      Ghosts of Summers Past
17. July 14, 2009                    The Gospel of Daddy
18. July 30, 2009                    The Spirit is Willing
19. August 2, 2009                 Voices Barely Heard
20. August 4, 2009                 Slumber Smiles
21. August 8, 2009                  Are We There Yet?
22. August 20, 2009                Travel Light
23. August 25, 2009                Life’s A Dream
24. September 23, 2009          The Comeback Kid
25. September 29, 2009          The Long Goodbye
26. October 13, 2009               Daddy & Larry
27. October 21, 2009               A Lingering Fall
28. November 1, 2009              All Saint’s Day
29. November 3, 2009              Daddy Tuesday
30. November 18, 2009            Life Amongst the Saints
31. December 1, 2010              A Willie Nelson Christmas
32. December 2, 2009              End Like Clint
33. December 23, 2009            Going My Way
34. January 27, 2010                Chocolate Sheet Cake
35. February 11, 2010              Senior Olympic Games
36. February 15, 2010              Lights Out
37. February 24, 2010              The Scary Quiet
38. March 6, 2010                    Picnic
39. March 9, 2010                    Changing of the Guard
40. March 19, 2010                  Spring at Heart
41. March 28, 2010                  Never on Sundays
42. April 17, 2010                    Irish Sensibility
43. April 22, 2010                    Another Chapter
44. April 25, 2010                    Heaven
45. April 29, 2010                    Parting Gifts