I went to Ottawa during Thanksgiving to visit my dad. Mainly just to visit. To spend time.
I wasn’t much help doing anything other than putting dishes in the dishwasher and carrying stuff out to the car from where they had been staying. But there was one day when my dad and I went to have coffee.
My original plan was to walk around the corner to the Tim Horton’s. It’s very close to where they live. And I was chomping at the bit to get outside in the Canadian snow and cold.
Ok, that picture comes from a walk I took later. I provide it here as evidence that, “Yes it was cold and there was snow.” That walk involved bus tickets and walking downtown. But on this occasion, I was merely contemplating a walk around the corner.
“I can drive you,” Dad said.
“No thanks,” I said. “It’s close. I can walk.”
During the course of the morning, he offered again. I repeated my plan to walk.
“Perhaps you should go with your dad,” Khadija said.
Well, ok. She didn’t actually say that. She is more gentle and discrete than to phrase something quite like that. (Message to self: It’s not too late; emulate this!) But I finally figured out that perhaps I should accept my father’s proposal. So we drove.
Dad paid. We drank hot coffee. He had a donut. I managed to resist.
We sat. We talked. For a good long time.