I woke up to an email from him last week saying he had fallen, hit his head and was "bleeding profusely" and that when he drove himself to Urgent Care, he had dizzy spells and chest pains.
So I immediately started figuring out what I had to do to get out there.
We had just seen him in August, which was awesome, but I felt like I needed to be there with him.
He doesn't always tell me the 100% truth when it comes to his health.
He doesn't want me to worry. I get that. But at the same time, I'm the offspring that is responsible for making sure my elderly parents are both taken care of. And since they are divorced, that responsibility had doubled in a sense.
Since my dad wasn't in immediate danger, I booked my flight for Sunday, returning Wednesday.
When I spoke to him right after his fall, he had his head bandaged and he looked tired and sore. He said his sprained neck was the worst of it. He told me NOT to come out. He told me it's "NOT A BIG DEAL."
He said "Mei, I'm literally fine" and I replied with "awesome, so we can enjoy our time together and eat some good food."
I made sure to book my flight BEFORE talking to my dad. This way he couldn't talk me out of it.
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| My face because there's a cat on board and it's sitting 4 rows behind me. And I'm VERY allergic. |
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| I love flying Southwest. WiFi on board with free movies and TV. Guess what movie I watched? |
My flight arrived on time, right at 11:15. I told my dad I'd take an Uber to his house, but he was NOT having that.
And the timing couldn't have been better - as soon as I made it out to Passenger Pick-Up, he was pulling up to the curb!
And you know what? He looked good. Even with his bandaged head.
We got back to his house and I watched some Schitt's Creek before dozing off around 4am EST. (1am PST)
Monday I woke up around 7am PST (10am PST) and immediately got my laptop out and did some work.
Dad and I enjoyed some coffee and spent time at the kitchen island doing "work" together. Me on my laptop and him on his iPad, playing his games. 😂
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| Fashion show with the new sunglasses he gave me. These are D&G. |
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| UA Aviators for Steve |
We had a slow morning and I continued to do some work (the benefits of working remotely! I'm only taking one full day of PTO for traveling Wednesday) before we decided to head out for Dim Sum.
I hadn't had Dim Sum in YEARS.
And going with my Dad one-on-one? One of my favorite memories growing up was spending one-on-one time with my Dad and eating good food.
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| More dishes came around but I didn't want to keep getting my phone out. We ate until we were stuffed! SO GOOD! |
I wanted to hit up a Cannabis store here in LV. It's the biggest one in the world, apparently. I told my dad I'd go alone...because well, he's still my dad and it's still weird.
However, after lunch he told me to Google the store - Planet 13 - turns out it was only 5 minutes from where we were, so he ended up taking me. I legit said "just drop me off, this is too weird for me" and he dropped me off.
I'll write up a blog post on the experience because it's nothing I've ever in my life thought I'd experience. It was very, very cool.
So I was talking with a Sales Rep and in walks my dad!
I'm like "uhhhh, hi."
Anyway.
He was interested in the pain relief aspects of Cannabis. Being a Pharmacist...he asked a lot of questions. Some were legit and some were just funny.
As I was checking out - my dad says to the Bud Tender "so I think you should hire me. I'm a pharmacist by trade - just retired now" and the Bud Tender - such a nice guy, was just laughing and chatting with him.
It was interesting to say the least. I never would've thought in a million years that my dad would be coming with me to this place. Let alone try to pay for it! LOL. He legit tried to put his credit card down, not realizing it was cash only. So then he threw down some cash. I can't even take it.
After that insane adventure, we headed home to relax and do a little work (for me).
For dinner, we opted to stay in, but get some take-out. We generally get some sort of Asian dish, but earlier in the day we had passed an In and Out Burger and I made a comment that I had never had it before.
Dad said it was really good and that he'd pick it up for us for dinner.
It did not disappoint!
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| I got a regular Cheeseburger with the stuff that comes on it and fries. SO FREAKING GOOD. |
Shortly after dinner and more hanging around, I hit the sack. It was closing in on 11pm EST so I was getting tired.
Tuesday was pretty much the same. Woke up around 7am PST and went out to do some work and have some coffee while my dad played on his iPad.
Hung around all morning really, enjoyed the relaxed-ness of it all.
Then he wanted to take me to lunch - another of our favorites from times past.
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| Hong Kong style roasted duck and pork |
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| It was so good! |
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| Had to stop to get a Bubble Tea after. Dad was spewing advice. |
I have a quick connection in Baltimore on the way back - landing at 1:25pm. Boarding for my next flight which takes off at 2:10pm is at 1:40pm. I'm hoping I can squeeze in a bathroom break.
Luckily it appears as though my gates are right next to each other AND there's a bathroom right there too.
All in all, this was a great, albeit short trip. I got to spend time with my dad doing the things we love! Eating!
I haven't spent this much alone time with my dad in ages.
We have always gotten along. He's incredibly conservative, a bit boring. Stubborn as all hell. Suuuuuper smart.
I'm like the polar opposite. But hey, it works! It always has.
We are of very little words, but we know how to enjoy each other's company.
Love you, Dad.
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