New Years Fireworks 1

I've just wrapped myself in a blanket my mom knitted...or crocheted...for me. I don't know which. In any case, she started it when my dad was in the hospital in San Diego and finished it sometime after he died. I remember her asking what colors and me telling her black, grey and gold. She made it grey, with two stripes on either end of alternating thin bars of black and gold. There is fringe on one side only as she ran out of grey yarn.

I remember her working on it in the hospital room over new years the year I was at the prep school. My dad was in the bed and really wanted to stay up until new years. My mom and I were skeptical. Around eight PM, the nurse came in with his coctail of drugs and put each one in front of him while telling him their function and he would throw it down, drink water, and swallow; "stool softener", drink, swallow, "pain relief", drink, swallow, "Advil", drink, swallow, "sleeping pills", drink...his eyes widened and he didn't know what to do. Swallow.

"Well," he said with a grin, "I'll see you guys next year." He slowly dozed off and my mom knitted while we watched Wheel of Fortune and the Golden Girls. Sometime around 1150, we heard fireworks which we could barely make out through our window, which faced the wrong way. My dad heard us and woke up and asked if he'd missed midnight. No, he hadn't yet, so he insisted we wake him and take him down the hall. We quickly dressed him and unplugged his machines and got him into the wheelchair. My mom, dad and I rushed down the hallway with his pipes and wires and bags of liquids being pulled quickly behind us as we tried to make it to the window at the end of the hallway to catch the fireworks. We got to the window in time to see the last firework pop above the hotel in front of us and that was the end.

My mom hugged me and gave my dad a kiss and I kissed him on his head and said Happy New Year!