We call my father Waladiy.  Being raised as a Muslim, this was how I referred to my father from youth.  I guess it just stuck.  Waladiy is my enigma.  He is the smoothest negotiator, the most stubborn idealist, the most attentive student, the most sincere Human I know.  

He doesn't like to talk on the phone for long.  Don't mess with his food.  By the way, he passed his Barium swallow and can officially eat as of about two weeks ago.  He hasn't slowed down since.  Food is comfort for him.  Not just eating it, but waking up in the morning and smelling it.  Being able to tell what time of day it is from what wonderful scents come out of the kitchen is what he is used to.

I haven't lived around Waladiy in over twenty years.  My family is quite nomadic and from the last time I actually lived with my parents, which was around 1998, we have moved about ten times in and through three different states.  Being around Waladiy everyday after all that time is eye opening for me.

Fiercely independent, I know that this whole trip must be really taxing on Waladiy.  Before his stroke, he had an apartment that he lived in with his lady friend.  He worked as a groundskeeper at the complex he lived and was loved and respected by all around him.  Now he can't get up on his own (he's making progress), can't do the basic things that most of us take for granted and constantly talks about his "responsibilities" that he has to get back to taking care of.

My entire life has been thrown into a vortex of sorts as well.  I have been developing a youth and community program for some time now and was in the middle of fund raising to expand our program.  Our location was being renovated by the owner of the property and I knew that with this upgrade, my financial responsibilities would increase.  We were completely revamping our program and then Waladiy had a stroke.  The universe is speaking really loudly to me now.

Waladiy's stroke happened on February 4th, 2018.  We brought him here to live with us in Virginia on March the 13th.  Since then, we have based our entire program and schedule around his care.  This has all but prohibited me from traveling to my center to work with my children so I've had to work from home.  This has caused me to lose children because of their inability to reach my location which has severely strained my finances.  My wife was directly in the middle of establishing a women's health program as well so we were kind of in a "leap of faith" of sorts.  The universe is definitely speaking to us.