Losing Danny

Daniel Frankin Jr. sat looking at an older version of himself.

“Hello Danny,” he said as the old man sipped his soup from a bent soup spoon.

“Oh hello. When did you get here? You remind me of my son. Did you know I have a son?”

Danny Jr. looked at this father and felt his eyes sting. This trip never was easy. But over the past few months it had gotten infinitely more difficult. It had started slowly — like a record skipping. But recently it had sped up. Especially since Danny Sr. had moved out of his home and into the Alzheimer’s Ward in Golden Memories Nursing Home. He had threatened a neighbor with a gun. Now Danny Jr. had to come visit his father here. Golden Memories Nursing Home. The irony was painful.

“I don’t want to lose you, Dad. Especially when you are alive.”

“Did you say something young man?” Danny Sr. spoke as he took another sip of his soup.

“No, Dad…..nny.”

The older man smiled. He was at peace. Dust particles danced around him in the sunbeam shining through the slightly parted curtains, making him look almost angelic. The room was nice enough. It was dressed in late 1990’s decor with lots of cheap plastics and tan paint. Over on the nightstand was a picture of Danny Jr’s Mom from the early 1960’s. He looked at her eyes. She still had those beautiful eyes. Eyes that had been bloodshot a lot lately.

“Have you had the soup?” Danny Sr. was good at chit-chat. In fact, he was a master. It was the details that tripped him up.

Danny thought about the times they had spent together. The trips fishing. The times they worked on cars. The times he coached his baseball games. As dads went, Danny had always said he had won the Dad Lottery. Now all his winnings were being stolen by an unrelenting thief.

“And who are these two fine gentlemen?” Danny Sr. looked at the two brown-headed boys in the doorway. He put down the soup spoon and adjusted himself in his chair.

“A couple of your biggest fans.”

“I have fans? Well today is my lucky day.”

Danny Jr. watched as his boys hugged their grandfather. And it was at that moment, he realized our truly valuable possessions are the memories that we make over a lifetime.

Danny Jr. sighed. He was losing Danny. And that was a terrible price to pay.