Patient Listener or Partner in Crime?

When I got to Mom and Daddy's this afternoon, their young friend, Jim, was sitting with Daddy and listening to him ramble.  I'm sure that sometimes his ramblings might have made little sense as Daddy was working through the tangles that sometimes take place with his oxygen deprived thinking.  But, Jim was patiently listening and smiling or chuckling when appropriate.

At one point I overheard Daddy mention something along this line...

"I just thought when Beverly got here today she could lead it."

So, I asked Daddy, what is it you think I"m going to lead for you?

He replied, "A horse."

Me: What horse?

Daddy: "That one out there." (and he pointed out toward the front pasture)

Me: Are you kidding me?  Daddy, you know I'm afraid of a horse!  I'm not gonna lead any horse for you!

Daddy in a hoity-toity way: "Well, we sent you off to 'The University' and I thought you might have learned something about leading a horse."

Me in a hoity-toity way:  I learned a lot at 'The University' about horses.  I learned I didn't need any old horse.  I learned I didn't need to be messing with a horse.  I confirmed that I am scared of horses.

Daddy just rolled his eyes and he and Jim chuckled together.

Then, I noticed that Daddy had taken his oxygen tubing out of his nose.  So, I took the couple of steps over to him and repositioned it into his nose and told him that he had to leave that in his nose like that to help him breathe.  (I was a little surprised that I wasn't accused of being bossy.)

He cut his eyes over toward Jim.  Then, he said, "Did you know this tube grew longer last night?"

I'm sure the look on my face was pure confusion and I asked him where it grew longer.  So, Daddy held up a long length of the tubing between his hands and said, "See?"

Then, his hand went up to remove the tubing from around his left ear and take the tubes out of his nose.  So, I gently put the tubing back like it was supposed to be and told him that I bet if that tubing grew longer it was because SOMEBODY had been pulling and stretching it!

"Well, I don't know anything about that!"  Daddy said and cut his eyes over toward Jim.

I said, I bet it was the one who is pulling at it right now, and again gently took the tubing away from him and repositioned it behind his ear and into his nostrils.

This time, he pointed his finger at me.  "I don't know how many degrees you have gotten but I do know one thing.  You don't know EVERYTHING!"  he said, looked over at Jim, and they chuckled together.