“Hi Dad. It’s your daughter Bethleigh.”

“I remember” he said.

Dad seemed to be having a good day. His nurse told me that she and Ross had slow danced during exercise class that morning. THAT was very good news. I tried to remember the last time I slow danced. Something to look forward to when I get there I guess.

As dad got himself up I noticed that the “Comfort Bird” that I had gotten for him in Patagonia was sitting on his bedside table. This little bird was made of rose wood I think. It was soft and fits just into the palm of a hand. It seems to live up to it’s title. I reminded him he could always hold it if he was lonely.

After our journey out into the wide world, we went with our Rita’s water ice, to sit out in the garden at the home. It is a beautiful little place filled with big sunflowers and those giant goldfish in a little pond. Ross became more relaxed than I had seem him for a long time. “Thank-you.” he said. “Thank-you.” He closed his eyes and swayed a bit as he does sometimes. Every now and then opening them to say “Thank-you” I walked over to the garden and picked some lavender, crushed it up for him to sniff. “Wow.” he said softly. I continued to pick herbs and crush them for him to sniff and he continued to exclaim “wow!” I felt happy that the herbs and I could provide such a simple pleasure. We both agreed that Thyme had the nicest fragrance of all.