Sometimes, It's Good To Be Awake

I just got off the phone with my sister: my father is awake! I guess it happened pretty quickly this morning after they removed the breathing tubes. He told them that when he opened his eyes, he thought he was still dreaming, so he kept opening and closing his eyes hoping to wake up from it. She said he's very emotional right now, but in pretty good spirits, too. He was joking with the nurses just like his old self. He did come to some serious realizations, though. The first was that mom should quit smoking right away. It's sad that it took a heart attack to drive home what I've been trying to get him to do for years, but it seems like (at least, for now) he got the message. The other was that he will have to quit his second job, baking donuts for Dunkin Donuts. It's a job he'd been doing for years (and also the reason why, during my youth, I rarely saw him...he worked 7 days a week). He loves that job, but he realized that the labor in working the dough will be too much for him. My other concern was that the guys at the donut shop all smoke, and dad is a social smoker, so I was afraid he would have difficulty in maintaining the willpower not to. I'm glad he came to this conclusion on his own.

I'm looking forward to going up to see dad tonight after Brian gets home from work. Thank goodness he's awake for his birthday!! Oh yeah, and there's no brain damage either!! :)