Until next year

Winter approaches. We had our first noticeable snowfall yesterday - no accumulation, just wet flakes. It was the perfect day for my parents to leave the city for the winter. They won't be back again until April. Each year, as my parents age, I wonder whether my goodbye to them will be my last - whether the unthinkable will happen, and, G-d forbid... I can't even say it in print.

My father sounded old - I've never heard him sound quite like that - when I spoke to him just an hour or so before he was scheduled to catch the shuttle bus. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he wasn't feeling too well. This is a guy who has maintained his weight, within a span of +/- 3 lbs for the past 50 years. He could take me in a fight any day, and is in better shape than I've been since age 35. But he's still getting older - 84 on his next birthday, and time is catching up. My mom is aging gracefully too. She hasn't changed much in the past 30 years or so, and I don't think anyone passing her on the street would know she's nearly 78.

I've been trying to get my parents on the internet for several years now, telling them it's the perfect way to communicate, and to get instant photos of their great-grand-children. About a week before departing, my dad told me he's ready to get it - that, upon their return, he'd like to talk to me about getting hooked up. Bless his soul. G-d willing, they'll be online come next April.