When dad called the other night, and asked if he could swing by in ten minutes, alarm bells started ringing like hell. What was he up to. Turns out things weren't quite as I had imagined they would be.
When stuff like this happens, I'm always a little worried. I mean, he said he'd be at my place within 10 minutes. Seing as he lives more than 10 minutes away from me, I was like 'hmm what's within ten minutes from me'. The only obvious answer was; the hospital. Now, knowing the problems last year, of my cousin's, and that she was due to give birth in the next few weeks from that night, I figured instantly, that something had gone awry. I could hear in his voice, that things weren't quite as they should be.
But when he walked in the door, and told me the real problem, I was well baffled. I hadn't seen it coming. Turns out he had some problems at home, and needed a place to stay. He had driven around town looking up family, but nobody had been home, so he called me, and swung by. And of course I let him stay. I mean, I finally have this big place and am actually able to let people stay over. That alone means a lot.
We spent a few hours in the kitchen talking about things and it was good getting the feeling of being on top of the relationship for once. I mean, he's mentioned it himself, how it was weird that he came to me for help, when it was usually the other way around, given the natural state of a parent-child relationship. Unfortunately I had to go to work that night, but I gave him a set of keys, and gave him all the necessary information in regards to where and how to sleep. Was weird really. I spoke to my brother that night, on msn, and asked him to swing by the next day. He was upset by the whole thing, as he's well into the family thing. More so than me. I mean, as some of you will undoubtedly know, I'm not the kind of person who gets shaken up easily. And while dad and his wife has been together for 17 years, I was 11 when they started going out, and already quite independent. Also, I'm an introspective person, and as such never struck up a huge relationship with her. It's never been a case of me having the childish hate many kids have when one parent finds a new partner. I'm not like that really. It was just a case of me not having a lot in common with her, and again, I'm not very outgoing. And, I've later learned, neither is she really. But she is a kind and sweet person, so... well.. anyway, I'm just not shook up. But my brother is. And of course, my two sisters, who live at home and feel the whole thing a lot more present.
But he bunked up with me, and the following day, we had a talk with my brother as well. I liked the whole aspect of family coming together. Even if it was under stressful circumstances such as these. It just meant a lot to me, that my dad needed my help, and that I was able to provide said help. It's been a few days now, and things have cooled down quite a bit. He and his wife had a good talk, and while I'm unsure of what exactly the future may bring, as are, I'm sure, both of them, things seem to be pushed to the back of his mind at the moment. He, my 3 siblings and myself left for our house in the deep woods of Sweden, for 4 days. Getting away is a good thing I guess. Also, while there is no internet here, or phone or tv, it did me good to get out of town for a bit, and back to basics. I did bring my laptop thought, and am typing this post in Open Office under Ubuntu 8.04 (yeah, a little geekness is allowed in every post). I'm actually writing up 5-6 posts at once, interspersed with a bit of minesweeper. I think the Ubuntu one is better than the Winblows one, in as much as it paused when you tab away from it automatically. Pretty cool.
