WELCOME August 13, 2001 Issue

When you become the parent

Bill Dawley

My father and I had some pretty rough times when I was growing up. We never seemed to see things eye to eye. He used to say to me, "Why don't you go out and play baseball with the other kids?" I was more content to sit in the house and peck away on the piano.

Things continued that way right up through high school. After I went into the Marines and got out three years later, the relationship between us straightened out somewhat. We began to be more tolerant of each other's views. But there was still tension. And sometimes things flared up.

About three years ago, my dad was diagnosed with severe dementia. Over a period of time, the person I had known seemed to fade into the distance. But a strange thing happened—for the first time, in an earnest way, we began to acknowledge a real love for each other.

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