weighing the merits of a day (lyn)

Day one begins and ends with a feast of unhealthy foods.


The senior breakfast began the day; fried clams and french fries end it. Nothing in-between. Not even one fruit or vegetable.


My sister and brother-in-law have gone off to Chatham for a few days.  My other sister and her family start arriving tomorrow.  So today it's just my parents, Alexander and me. Between meals, my mom and I go to the beach and catch up on life.  We talk about things we usually don't discuss.  It's a warm, comfortable conversation.  I feel closer to her than I have for a long time. She's a much stronger woman than I've previously thought.


My dad goes out to a restaurant for both breakfast and dinner today. That's more than he's probably dined out in the past month.  Getting in and out of cars has become very difficult for him. Three years ago he was playing tennis regularly; today he struggles to move from room to room.  Once a strong man, he is now frail and without energy.  It is sad to see this once vibrant man become old. But yet I've never seen him so in love. My dad looks at my mom as if seeing her for the first time.   He is once again the 25 year-old Brockton boy, enamored with the 18-year old Boston beauty.  He embarrasses her with his adulation.  At dinner, apropos of nothing, he rhetorically asks me and Alexander, "Isn't she beautiful? I've never seen her look bad."


So today I eat poorly. But in all other ways, it's a very good day.