A Dad Memory

I came home about two weeks before Dad died. I got to spend so precious time with him, doing what Jeremy and Mom had been doing for years. I took him to radiation treatment, pain doctors, chemo, cooked for him, gave him medications. But my favorite story makes me smile every time I remember.

Mom and Dad had decided to spend time in Colorado at Health Quarters. It is a program that focuses on cleansing the body and attempting to rid the body by only putting in pure nutrients and providing the resources so that the body can fight any and all diseases. The diet was purely raw fruits and vegetables: fresh, home made juices and many different supplements. So when I came home I was amazed at how skinny Dad was. I think it was becoming more of a reality that we were not going to be able to beat the cancer. We were just at the point of finally starting hospice and trying continually control the constant pain.

I had taken Dad to a doctor's appointment and we were on our way home. And I had decided that he was far too thin, not getting any good tasting food and not getting better. He didn't have a large appetite so it was hard to get him to eat large quantities of anything. I decided that he just needed more calories and got him anything that he would eat.

We had just finished an appointment with his pain doctor and were on our way home. I asked Dad if he would like a McDonald's ice cream. He said "No." I offered a couple of times and finally he agreed. We stopped and went through the drive through so we could get home and let him rest as quickly as possible. At the order window, the conversation went like this.

"Welcome to McDonald's, may I take your order?" said the voice over the speaker.
"Yes, I would like one soft serve vanilla cone please."
"One soft serve vanilla cone, is that all you need today?" the voice said.
"Yes...."
"NO WAIT!" Dad interrupted.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"We also need a Whopper and fries!" Dad explained.
"OK," I told the voice. "We also need a Whopper and fries, please."
"You might have to eat the ice cream first." I told Dad.
"That's fine." He told me.

So we got up to the take out window and got Dad an ice cream cone, a Whopper and fries. I was totally surprised that my Dad even knew that McDonald's had W hoppers and that he was so willing to eat it instead of his raw veggies. The ice cream was mostly gone by the time we got home and he ate almost the entire Whopper and fries. So strange, I can count on two hands how many times my parents took us to McDonald's to eat.

I hope this story is as entertaining to read as it is for me to remember. I do love and cherish that these memories are so fun. That was my Dad. Witty, surprising, funny and not at all a junk food man.