Missing Dad!

Well, lookie, lookie! We've got our first tomato and, let me tell you, dear Joe has been sitting on my shoulder every single time I went outside to check its ripening status. I could literally hear his voice 'It's not ready yet.' 'No, not today, maybe next week.' 'It's looking pretty red, Lori' and so on. Yesterday, when I went to pick it and presented it to Gert, I heard Dad say 'Is that it?' Amazing how he impacts my life daily, even though he's no longer physically with us.

I find it interesting also that I've become a tomato eater just in the last 2 years since Dad's been gone. Always hated the little buggers but now I actually crave them. It must be his spirit infusing itself in me as he loved nothing more than to head to the garden with a salt shaker. He'd come back in 30 minutes, licking his lips and rubbing his belly.

Mom recalls a trip down to the Everglades in Florida where they went into a pick-your-own tomato field. When they got their sack of tomatoes and the proprietor put them on the scale, Mom told the gyy that he should weigh Dad instead of the sack...

Gert's doing ok but is having spells of shortness of breath still. I've finally got her adjusted to using the inhaler (boy, was THAT an interesting time...) as we use something called a 'spacer' with it. Much easier to use now although she still can't use it alone but that's ok, I don't mind helping her. I'm hoping though that, after her cat scan and follow up appointment with the pulmonologist next month, we'll have a clear reason why she's having periodic episodes. I've been checking the air quality index (AQI) daily to see what the code is and have certainly been aware of restricting even going on the porch to days when the AQI is excellent. Otherwise, she's pretty well and keeps me entertained, as do the dogs and the cat.