The Daughter Writes

As requested I, Heather Gerard, Gary’s one and only daughter am writing the blog tonight.

My two and a half year son Alexander, I call him Xander for short and I got up at 8am this morning and made it downstairs just in time to say goodbye to Ada as she left for work. After I had a cup of coffee the two of us got dressed. I then helped my Dad get breakfast ready and we all sat down and ate. Xander watched a few cartoons while Dad and I cleaned things up. Then we all headed out to the car planning to go to the grocery store. About 20 minutes and a few lessons later from a Prius mechanic who just happened to be in Ada’s office when I called, I got gotten the car started and we were on our way. We picked up all the items on Ada’s grocery list with only a few extra things; one of which was a pretty bouquet of flowers that Gary had gotten for her. Back at home we put the groceries away and then decided to make some lunch before taking a nice stroll around the block. So we ate lunch then the three of us and Diva took a short, slow walk around the block and through a portion of the park. As I had hoped and secretly planned for I had two boys and a dog with full tummies all tuckered out and ready for naps.

The day had been going great, so far anyway. Naptime was over though and we were all watching tv when Gary said that he thought he might go for a ride on his trike. I said no Dad, you can’t go anywhere without us. He asked why and I told him that he might get lost. He said that that wouldn’t happen if he was right on his own block and close to home. Again I told him no and assumed he had changed his mind as we all continued to watch tv. Xander had finished the afternoon snack he happened to be eating at this time so I took his plate and started cleaning up. While I was putting things away I noticed Dad was no longer in the living room and just thought he must be in the bathroom. A few minutes had passed and he still hadn’t returned so I decided to check on him. The bathroom door was open and as I opened the door to the garage I saw a bright light which happened to be the sun shining in at me from the open garage door. I quickly grabbed up my baby boy and raced to the end of the drive way. I could see Gary down at the other end of the block riding his trike toward the park doing circles. To make a long story short, Dad was gone we got there and we drove all over looking for him. I understand that Dad hasn’t lost all his marbles as of yet, so to speak and that he has good memory days and bad ones. But he needs to understand that we are all just trying to help him and keep him safe. Luckily my Dad ended back at home today with no problems but there has been days where he did get completely lost. It is because of those days that I became a very scared and worried little girl today, franticly searching for my father hoping that he was alright.