The Oakmont Visit

The Oakmont Visit

I’m in all the visits to Oakmont since my dad and Della are there.

I see I’m there nearly every day and Lesley and their dogs.

I see I’m helping and buying and making this little apartment their home.

I see the picture their neighbors gave them so they wouldn’t miss the view from their home.

I see me set up gadgets and calendars so he could always either get me or know when we can have lunch together.

I see me help lift him when he can no longer do it himself.

I see me help Della and grab her into wheelchairs.

I see me running down halls to find people to help them.

I see me send emails to ensure they are well cared for.

I see my father hand over his entire life, ask me to liquidate their beautiful home overlooking the city they loved.

I see him, looking disappointed when he sees me, not present with him, tell me “all of our money and things are all Berger” more than one time.

I see him ask, after tens of thousands of meals in almost every country in the world and a passion for trying everything, for octopus as he’d believed he’s never had it before.

I don’t see him die suddenly from sepsis in the arms of a woman who called him “her favorite patient of her life” after knowing him for less than a year.

I see his body, with his face covered by a napkin, showing me he’ll never see the boy he kept calling “the best son ever” ever again.