Medications and Conversations…

“You look really good tonight,” my father cheerily told me as he finagled with my medication packet. “You look so healthy these days. You always looked like you were on death’s door when you were drinking so heavily.”

Dad handed me my mouthful of medications and gulped them all down at once with some KFC sickly sweet tea. Dad then patted me on my knee and wanted me to tell him all about my day. I told him mainly about Maggie’s antics with my new neighbors.  Maggie doesn’t quite know what to do with these new tenants in Joyce’s house. She will sit outside and watch them. If they move too fast, she will bark alarmingly.

“Have you talked to your new neighbors?” dad asked intrigued.

“Oh, yes!” I replied. “They seem to be like good, down-to-earth people. Their air-conditioning is out and that’s why they are sitting outside on the patio so much.”

“Well, Chuck!” dad said as he got up. “I hate to run, but I’ve got to go get Horsefly up and going.  He needs a bath and his chicken fingers. Let’s go feed and water Maggie.”

Charlie’s oldest son took another turn for the worse the other night and is back in the hospital at UAB in Birmingham.