Labored Breathing

Here is a picture of my dad many years ago holding my older brother Darren when he was little.  It amazes me how much my brother Brian looks like my dad.  When my kids see pictures of my dad in his younger years they always, always think that it's a picture of my brother instead of my dad.

This picture is a more recent one of him.  He is pictured with his good friend John Brown.  He was an original code talker in WW2.  Pretty cool huh.  I don't know what his given name was and I'm sure that I wouldn't be able to pronounce it anyway.  But the white name he always went by was John.  My dad speaks fluent Navajo.  It's an amazing language to listen to.  In this picture John is giving his personal rifle to my dad as a gift.  My dad is so proud of that gun. 

I had a dream the other night that I went to my dad's house.  I knocked on the door and my dad came walking straight and tall to the door and was totally normal.  He was not in a wheelchair.  He almost had a skip in his step.  I actually woke myself up because I was so surprised to see him so tall.  It was a nice dream.  Incredibly short, but nice to see him tall and strong.  

His breathing has become labored.  He sneezed the other day when I was there and it was the  wimpiest sneeze ever.  It sounded like it came out of a newborn baby.  He can hardly sneeze, he cannot cough, and he can't swallow his saliva.  He is okay with food oddly enough but the saliva is a difficult task. 

 I really won't like the day that he has to have a feeding tube placed.