I can’t believe I am saying this, but last year, I had to tell my parents it was time to turn off the heat.
- It was early June and I walked into the house and walked right back out.
I couldn’t believe what had hit me. I could hear the heat going through the water pipes. I checked the thermostat when I walked back into the house. They had the thermostat set at seventy-five, and it was still set for the furnace. I asked my mom when was the last time she had been outside. She smiled and told me that my dad had been sick. They hadn’t been outside in almost a month. He wasn’t handling the temperature changes very well. I told her that it was almost summer and maybe he needed to get outside. When dad came out of the bedroom, I realized just how sick he had been. I began to wonder how long it had been since I had been home, and why hadn’t they told me how sick he was. My dad looked much older than the fifty years old he was. My dad had always been strong, but he wobbled when he hugged me. I went into the bedroom and grabbed his jacket and asked him to go for a walk with me. When mom handed him his cane, he smiled. We had only gone half a block when I saw that his lips were blue and he couldn’t breathe. We went back to the house where he went to his room. Mom said they had the thermostat turned up in the bedroom. I walked in and there he lay with a heavy blanket over him and his oxygen. I knew I had to get home more often.