Dad Comes Calling

Dad visited last night. We were in some sort of indoor batting facility and I was being lobbed pitches while Dad watched. I would swing and miss while Dad would critique my swing, and he did it without cursing.

"No, you swung right past that ball. Why do you move so stiff? I'll tell you what, I have a friend who can teach you how to swing a bat."

Dad mentioned the name of a man who I recognized as a famous Major League Baseball player. A dead baseball player. Then I realized Dad still thinks that I'm a kid. So I told him I wouldn't need his friend and showed him my knee with the four little scars on it.

"Look, I have bone on bone arthritis in this knee." Then I pointed to my ankle, "And I have a bone chip and missing cartilage in my ankle. Besides, my body is getting kind of old and stiff in general."

Dad looked over at me, by now we were in the car and he was driving, and all he said was "Oh, okay."

A few things about this. First, I love it when my dad shows up in my dreams. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, he seems happy. Also, it was cool that my dad knows a famous baseball player. I guess when you're dead you meet new people. Mostly, I was surprised that he didn't know everything about me. He didn't know what I have been up to all these years. That means he isn't hovering over me watching every single thing I do all day, and that is a very good thing... considering the stuff I look at on the internet.