Date: June 19, 1999
Age: 22
We are staying at the Honolulu airport until our next flight at 1AM--to Fiji. I'll send a card from there.
Love, Dad
Honolulu. Fiji. I hope I get to live my golden years just as my dad has.
Many of my dad and his wife's vacations take place by the ocean (any ocean--pick one) because they are scuba diving enthusiasts. It's something he did a lot of when he was young, but I don't think he ever went scuba diving while I was growing up. When we lived in Miami, and later when my parents had a condo in Key Largo, my dad always had a boat, and we'd often go snorkeling, but the ocean depths were 25 feet at most. I remember seeing an eel and it scaring the hell out of me, but my dad was snorkeling right next to me and he was perfectly calm, so I realized I should be calm, too.
While my mother was always a good sport, I think she was a little gunshy about open waters, and maybe that's why we never embraced scuba diving. I wish I had been brought up doing it--the most scuba diving I've done is trying it out in my dad's pool.
A few years ago my dad told me he hoped to be diving for the next twenty years, just like Jacques Cousteau. That would have put my dad diving into his mid-80s. Unfortunately, I think his diving days are over--he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the fall, and while his prognosis is good and it's being treated like a chronic disease, he no longer has the stamina for diving. Which is a shame, because I'd still like him to take me on my first dive.
Many of my dad and his wife's vacations take place by the ocean (any ocean--pick one) because they are scuba diving enthusiasts. It's something he did a lot of when he was young, but I don't think he ever went scuba diving while I was growing up. When we lived in Miami, and later when my parents had a condo in Key Largo, my dad always had a boat, and we'd often go snorkeling, but the ocean depths were 25 feet at most. I remember seeing an eel and it scaring the hell out of me, but my dad was snorkeling right next to me and he was perfectly calm, so I realized I should be calm, too.
While my mother was always a good sport, I think she was a little gunshy about open waters, and maybe that's why we never embraced scuba diving. I wish I had been brought up doing it--the most scuba diving I've done is trying it out in my dad's pool.
A few years ago my dad told me he hoped to be diving for the next twenty years, just like Jacques Cousteau. That would have put my dad diving into his mid-80s. Unfortunately, I think his diving days are over--he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the fall, and while his prognosis is good and it's being treated like a chronic disease, he no longer has the stamina for diving. Which is a shame, because I'd still like him to take me on my first dive.
Posts
The card is lovely!
ReplyDeleteIts been interesting to read through the stories you share and the backgrounds/meanings of each card and the depths it actually hides, making us realize that cards are not just a piece of paper with something scribbled on it but that sometimes they carry a lot more than that.