Life was going Dad’s way yesterday.  My brother Jon and I haven’t enjoyed this good of a visit with Dad since…. well, let’s just say it’s been a really long time.  We stayed longer than usual, but even then, it was hard to leave.

I wished I had brought a camera to snap Daddy’s photo.  He just looked so good.

Not to make light of it, but after three plus months of going without, Dad has new front teeth for Christmas.  Perhaps I’ve already shared that the nursing home staff inadvertently threw Daddy’s old dentures in the trash three months ago.  To Daddy’s way of thinking, I’m sure he thought his dentures were safe and sound, all neatly wrapped up in a Kleenex sitting by his vanity sink.  And now, after four visits to a dentist, Daddy is all smiles.

Unlike our last visit, Daddy intently followed yesterday’s selected Christmas movie — Going My Way — which use to be a favorite of Daddy’s.   My father was just fourteen when the movie premiered in 1944 — it went on to sweep the Academy Awards.

Like Daddy, I just love that movie.  I want to believe that people like Father O’Malley — the heartwarming character, played by Bing Crosby, who was always thinking of others — really do exist.  It’s just a feel good movie from beginning to end.

Yet, Going My Way never fails to reduce me to a few tears as all loose ends are tied up and Father O’Malley is ready to move on.

The only thing that could have made this mini-Christmas miracle more perfect is if my sister Christi had been there to share it with us.  But I’m sure she was  — in spirit.