Aging

I have had a rough weekend, in which I had to take into consideration my parents' advancing age. My father is 71. While this is not terribly old, at his age there are some changes that have to be made.

Saturday night, on the way home from the market, Dad either fell asleep or blacked out from the heat (the air conditioner on the truck is broken) and ran the truck and trailer off the road. This resulted in two destroyed rims and tires on the truck, and a destroyed rim and tire and bent axle on the trailer.

Last night we held a family meeting with my maternal uncle, my cousin, his son, my mother, and myself. We had the uncomfortable task of telling Dad that he has to slow down. He's been in the habit of staying up until 3 am or so before getting up at 5 am to go to the market, and we had to tell him that he won't be going to markets with us on Saturdays anymore. He was not happy at all. I know he will miss the social interaction it provided, but he can still go to market with us on Thursdays and Sundays. But quite frankly, we sell much better when he isn't there, as he talks too much and scares off customers.

This is one of the hardest things I've had to do, tell my father he can't do all the things he wants to anymore. I just hope he doesn't become more angry.