I got some good news this morning...my Dad's cancer surgery went well, and he's fine. Whew. The last couple of weeks, I'd been worried about him. As tough as the old coot may be, cancer surgery isn't usually an easy thing. It all sounded like a pretty simple operation...plan A was a simple snip-snip, and plan B involved rerouting some plumbing. We were hoping that plan A would suffice, but either way, it seemed that there was every chance of success. But when it gets right down to it, I have to admit that my Dad's not a young fellow, and there is always a chance of something going goofy in surgery. I had a few moments of panic this morning when I thought 'Crap, I didn't even talk to him yesterday!' So I've been a little nervous today.
I got a voice mail from Mom, simply saying that it was done, plan A, and Dad's OK. And she's not supposed to be on her cellphone so she'll call me later. I still haven't received the full report, but I'm relieved, to say the least. It looks like he'll be kicking my ass on the bowling alley and golf course for awhile longer. I'm looking forward to our next visit up north, during which I'm sure our monkey will run everyone ragged.
In other news, I started reading David Gemmell's books again. After rushing through the first one I found in my closet, I went and dug up all the others, and I'm scouring half.com for the ones I'm missing. In doing a search for him on the internet, I was horrified to discover that he passed away this summer. Heart disease, at the age of 57. Well, crap. That's pretty disappointing. I had no idea.
I had a chance to meet Mr. Gemmell at a fantasy writer's convention several years ago, and I enjoyed hearing him speak during a panel discussion. Someone asked him about his heroic characters, and talked about having grown up around tough men, and he related one story of his time as a journalist. He interviewed an SAS operative (similar to our Navy Seals, I would guess), and asked how in the world the operative could do the things that he does on a regular basis. The man asked Mr. Gemmell to catch a coin that was thrown to him, which he did. Easy. Then he said, 'Now, pretend I have a gun to your mother's head. Can you catch the coin now?' Mr. Gemmell replied that it would definitely be harder that way. And the man replied, 'See, that's where we're different. Because for me, it's nothing more than catching a coin in the air.' Gemmell went on to explain that his heroes were known for being able to shut out the looming prospect of consequences of succeeding or not succeeding in a task, and simply perform the task with cool detachment. That kind of focus is necessary for getting the job done in high pressure situations, no matter what the job or situation might be. That message has stuck with me ever since.
Funny, but my Dad's always been like that. I just never stopped to think about it before.
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