Grandpa

We went down to San Francisco on December 25, expecting our usual fun winter break with the family. And we did have fun: we saw Star Wars, we went to Alcatraz, we went to the California Academy of Sciences, we watched classic comedies. But the week had a very serious event, which is that my father was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. We did not see this coming. We thought he had a difficult case of acid reflux. Unfortunately, the cancer also involves some lymph nodes, and maybe other places as well.

He feels reasonably well at this time, but there are difficult days ahead. We have asked him to come and live with us in Seattle for his upcoming care. His sister lives in SF and is a very able caretaker, but it’s not a one-person job, and it will be much easier for her to commute to Seattle than for me to commute down there (she is retired and lives with one fully capable adult). It has been hard for Dad to imagine leaving his home for an extended time, but he has come around to the idea. We do have a couple of charming grandsons that sweeten the deal.

He plans to come next week. So quite soon, we will be a three-generation household.