A little over 13 years ago, Dad was in the heart hospital, which I believe I can see from here. January. Mom and I had a bonding moment while struggling to loosely cover the citrus trees in the backyard against the promised overnight freeze. It was after midnight, maybe? My memory tells me that that was the same stay they forgot his Coumadin. It's possible that mistake was from a different visit. In any case, parking was scary, although I'm sure it's much crappier now. Dad was in a medically induced coma, which was not explained to us very clearly at all. Mom and I had begun to think he would not regain consciousness. Gabby Giffords was shot and her recovery in the hospital in Tucson during the same time was uncertain.

When Dad came out of the coma, I punched the air, I was so grateful. It felt like the hospital staff couldn't have cared less.