I was visiting my parents on Father's Day. We had finished dinner. Actually, we hadn't quite finished dinner as my dad was still eating. Mom, as is her way, starting cleaning up before he had finished. This happens for 2 reasons - 1) she is a clean freak and 2) she has very little patience.
They had just come back from Lansing, Michigan after visiting my nephew. My brother Alan and sister Maria had gone as well so they had a Father's Day celebration the day before. Jesse was out of town so that meant I was the only one visiting this fine Sunday.
Dad finally finished eating. By this point Mom had washed and dried the first set of dishes. You may ask why I wasn't doing any of these tasks. First I felt it was more polite to sit with my Dad while he was eating rather than clear dishes. Second, when it's just the 3 of us that's not really allowed. My parents, since they've spent many of their 62 years of marriage being parents, still enjoy treating me as their son because they don't get to do it very often.
So Mom was washing the second set of dishes, the ones Dad had used, while Dad and I finished clearing the table. She finished washing as Dad and I watched and started drying while saying, very sarcastically to my Dad, "Well, are you gonna just stand there or are you gonna start drying?"
Dad said, "You looked like you didn't need any help."
Mom said, "That's what you'd like to think."
I said, "Maybe he thought it was a special Father's Day gift and that he didn't have to dry today."
Mom said, "Of course he did! To him every day is Father's Day. It's been Father's Day for 62 years!"
With that, Dad took the towel from Mom. Which I guess is how you stay married that long.
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