Look!

Here’s a video I took of my dad in the hospital walking with a cane after nine months of…not walking at all.

Some stuff I should ‘splain before you watch it:

1a.) I apologize in advance for me screaming into the video random things like THAT IS AWESOME! GO DAD! I was encouraging him and my voice is super loud (and naturally quite shrill, sorry) and I sound like I’m cheering on a baby who is learning to walk for the first time but in my defense, THAT IS KIND OF WHAT THIS WAS LIKE and Dad needed some cheerleading action.

1b.) Side Story: We have a sweatshirt at our house from a cheerleading camp. It belongs to an ex-girlfriend of my little brother. My sister was wearing it a few months ago around the house (because we’ve adopted it, I suppose) and my dad stared at it for awhile and then looked at her and said, SO DEB, HOW *WAS* THAT CHEERLEADING CAMP?

And my sister was all, Dad?? I have NEVER been to cheerleading camp. WHEN DID I EVER GO TO CHEERLEADING CAMP!?

And my Dad was all I DUNNO BUT IT’S ON YOUR SWEATSHIRT.

And she was like THIS IS NOT MY SWEATSHIRT.

And he was like DEN WHY ARE YOU WEARIN’ IT?

Sigh. It was a confusing time for everyone.

1c.) I wore this same sweatshirt on Christmas Day and every time he would notice it, my dad would ask me how cheerleading camp was. At this point, he knew it was a joke and that none of us had ever gone to cheerleading camp but this struck me as ten times more funny because if you knew my sister, you would think that cheerleading camp might actually be an appropriate activity for her. If you knew me…

Um. You would know that I would never in one million years last two minutes at a cheerleading camp.

(My preferred camp, had I gone to camp ever, would’ve been an “I Love Jesus and Also Showtunes Camp”, just in case you were wondering. Although this camp didn’t quite exist, there were quite a few instances in high school of me simply bringing my CD’s of Original Broadway Cast Recordings on the weekend church retreats my mom made me go to. In essence, I ACTUALLY CREATED MY OWN “I LOVE JESUS AND ALSO SHOWTUNES CAMP”. Oh man, I was such a genius.)

MOVING ON.

WHY ARE WE TALKING ABOUT THIS?

ETC.

2.) You can see my father’s Dlug calves on full view in this video. Just when you thought you’d seen some big calves, LOOK OUT. YOU AIN’T SEEN CALVES LIKE THESE. They’re like tree trunks.

(My dad gets misty when we say this because apparently his mother, my Grandma Agnes, had calves just like that and then he gets all nostalgic about Grandma Aggie’s calves and that’s just…weird. Right? Awkward for everyone.)

3. My dad is wearing a scrub-like gown and a face mask because at the time this video was taken, he was considered high risk. Due to his history of infection, no one was allowed in his hospital room without a mask and extra gown and so dad wasn’t allowed out of his room for physical therapy without the same accessories.

4. He makes a joke toward the end about Terrence, the physical therapist who is behind him and what a great job he’s doing which is the reason why we all start laughing. It’s kind of muffled due to his face mask but suffice to say, dad is breathing heavy, trying to walk for the first time and still making jokes and thanking people for helping him. Amazing! (I believe he says “DIS TERRENCE GUY BEHIND ME IS A GOOD GUY!”)

5. You can hear my dad talking at one point about how tight his muscles are and how he needs to loosen up with his walker before he uses the cane. The only reason I’m pointing this out is because you can hear him say WALKA in Brooklynese and it is brilliant.

AND NOW LADIES AND JELLYBEANS, may I present my latest creation, a movie I like to call:

Dr. Dlug and His Fierce Calves, Walkin’ Wit A Cane!

Enjoy.

Dad Walks from The Spectrum on Vimeo.