THE LIGHT BULB

By Jose Smitha


My Dad could fix anything, cars, houses, airplanes name it.

Over the years my Dad's memory started to go and he started doing strange things. Like the time he bought a bunch of boxes of light bulbs because he got a good deal. The strange thing was they were special light bulbs, an indoor flood light bulb that nobody in our family's homes could use.

In the next few years my Dad's memory and behavior got worse and I used a few of the light bulbs in places they did not belong as outdoor flood lights and such. My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer'' disease and after about five years, one day he forgot how to walk and he was confined to a nursing home.


In the meantime, due to a new job I had to move away. I bought a new house and what do you know, my new house has the indoor floodlights recessed in the ceiling. I finally found a use for the light bulbs. My dad never got to see our new house, although I told him about it when I visited him in the nursing home, I'm not sure if he understood.



After a couple of years in the home my Dad took a turn for the worse and he forgot how to swallow food. Early one September morning my Dad died.

The night after my Dad's funeral, I came home exhausted and when I turned on the lights, one of the bulbs blew out. Needless to say I had plenty of spare bulbs.



A sign from my Dad maybe.

I miss him a lot.