The Call

Well, I finally got ‘the call’.  At 9:50 this Saturday night the phone rang.  When I saw the name, J Boyce, on the receiver and heard my dad’s frail voice on the other end of the line, I knew what was coming.  He had the phone on speaker mode, so that I could hear my mom’s voice in the background.  As the conversation went on, I sensed that she was not in complete agreement with everything my dad was saying, but she was uncharacteristically subdued.  She realized what I sensed.  Dad had reached the end of his physical and mental capacities and was calling to ask me to come to Victoria to find them a place.  It was clear that mom still imagines that they will move to a two bedroom assisted living facility, but my dad is more realistic.  I believe he knows that at any minute he could lose the mental capacity to deal with anything and that even now he can’t do much without my help.  Before this happens, he wants to find a place where he knows mom will be cared for.  He aware of the fact that he needs more care than she wants to accept and will soon require even more.  In the last 2 days I have prepared the house to leave it, cleaned up the garden (the part I really enjoyed) and done some research.  I have learned that what they probably need is frequently referred to as a ‘tiered care’ residence.  Talking with Jay, Mo, Barbara and Bert and Peg has really helped me to put things in perspective.  A good son, and friends are a blessing. 

I spent this Saturday at the Anglican Church across the street from my house attending a lecture and lunch that I had read about in ‘The Morning Star’.  I call it the local rag, and it is full of junk and stuffed with advertisements, but it has led me to most of the good things that I have discovered in Vernon.  The speaker this Sat. was William H. Harrison.  His subject was “Defining Religion”.  He was a very good speaker and the topic covered many world religions from a philosophical (lightly so), historical and contemporary perspective.  I really learned a lot and left the session feeling energized by the ideas he had presented.  Little did I know that every ounce of that vitality would be required to handle the phone call that would face me that night.

I will leave for Victoria early tomorrow morning, and by Wednesday at 9:00am, I will be drinking Hazelnut Coffee with Barbara and Terry in my suite in their house.  Things could be much worse. 

A view from the trailhead of last Sunday's hike up Mara Mountain near Kamloops

A close up of the hoodoos at the of the trail

A view of Kamloops and the Thompson River from Mara Mountain