Okay. Let’s get real. It’s five in the morning. I just got home. Daddy is worn out. This is going to be short. Don’t expect compound sentences.

Today was my last day house sitting for my friends. In the midst of my getting their home back in order, my mom called. She said Dad has been having trouble this week, that he’s been short of breath. So on his doctor’s recommendation, they were taking him to the emergency room. So this has been the whole damn day. We still don’t have a solid “answer,” but apparently he’s retaining fluids, which he sometimes does. But he’s also got other problems, like his respiration rate being low. Anyway, they’re figuring it out. He’s staying the night at the hospital, and they’re running tests tomorrow.

So all of that sucks. Still, I’m glad he’s getting help.

I spent part of this evening at the hospital, then left to participate in an improv comedy show at a local sushi restaurant. The show itself went great, but the crowd was spotty. When the show was over, I stuck around and hung out with my friends Justin and Joseph, who’d shown up to support our group. We ended up closing down the restaurant, then going for pizza and beer. Afterwards we all came back to my house, and they helped me gather up some things for my parents. (Mom is staying the night at the hospital with Dad.) Then we picked up some food for my parents and dropped everything off at the hospital. This was around one or two in the morning.

Obviously after visiting hours.

Then Justin and Joseph and I went to IHOP, since clearly the thing to do after eating one meal is to eat another. Anyway, we were there until four, and now I’m home. Honestly, I’m tired. Not just physically tired, but emotionally tired. I can’t tell you how effing done I am with sickness and doctors and hospitals and broken bodies. I’m like so over it. But what do you do?

In my case, I obviously spent the evening drinking a few beers and eating two meals. Well, three if you count the half a sushi roll that Joseph gave me after the comedy show. More importantly, I spent the evening in the company of some wonderful friends. I laughed a lot. When the evening was finally over, I told Justin, “I really appreciate your staying up late and helping me with Mom and Dad’s stuff. I know you have to be at work in a few hours.” He said, “Don’t worry about it. I figure that life is going to happen. You can either roll with it and participate in it or not. I choose to participate.” I can’t tell you how much I love this philosophy, the idea that we don’t have to push against every difficult situation, but that we can stay up late and eat and “friend” our way through whatever life brings us.

And then we can pass out, like I’m about to do.