A Day with "Pack"

Yesterday I decided to take the kids to the park. We just haven't been able to get there as often as I would like and it was a beautiful day to be outside. I called my Dad to check in on him before we left and he decided to come along too, and I was so glad that he did because the kids and I just don't get to do a whole lot with him very often.

It seems like the first grandchild always decides the grandparents nicknames. Grandma, MeMaw, Nana; it's pretty much whatever the first grandchild comes up with that sticks. When I was little, before I could say grandma, I came up with "GumGum", and my Grandmother was "GumGum" until she died last summer. Aaron called my Dad "Pack" and so now that is who he is to Elyse as well. So anyway, we got to spend the morning with Pack.

I'm really not sure who had the most fun, the kids, Dad, or me watching them together. It's surreal to stand back and see him with Aaron and Elyse knowing that at one time my sisters and I were that small. You can see it on their faces how much they love spending time with him.

Time with Dad has been all that more special because on Memorial Day this year he had a heart attack and when the doctors first came to us to explain the severity of the situation, we weren't exactly sure how things were going to turn out. He required a quadruple bi-pass and for four days my Mom and sisters and I all camped out outside the Cardiac ICU. Those were the longest days of my life. He remembers very little about that time, but it is something that we will never forget.

Thank God everything turned out well. The surgery was successful and he recovered in record time, leaving the hospital less than a week after he had the initial attack. I like to think that GumGum had a small hand in his recovery as well. I look forward to many more park trips with him, but most of all I look forward to watching my kids grow up playing with their Pack.