I May Outlive You After All

 


This is the latest picture I have of my father, Kid Chase (Not the leprechaun Fightin' Irish guy, he's a tat proly now quite faded away on his shriveled forearm; no, the super-slim photo to the right. Well, actually, the tattoo is a little boxer guy, not the Notre Dame icon but it's similar so whatever...) The pic was taken during a visit by my sister to him at an undisclosed location, according to her Facebook post, almost two years ago. I think maybe a nurse took it of the two of them together and Cindy then cropped herself out of it for her post I'm guessing since it's so narrow, more so than even a portrait pic. Judging by the look of his hospital gown and the partition curtain it seems he's in some shitty hospital. Why? What ailment caused him to land there? Nothing said in her post. Just that she visited him and she "loves him lots." 

By January of 2024, this Facebook page, like several others of hers before it, went dark.

But my dad and his creepy smiley face isn't the subject of this post. I thought I'd put it up here as a comparison since, if I actually have some of his genes, apparently I too will look like the Crypt Keeper but will still keep kickin' it well into a ripe old age. 

But then there's my mother's genes. Her and her family's history of longevity isn't so robust.

I may be swaying towards daddy's side though...

My recent blood work came back and it seems really glowing. Apparently the magic of modern pharmaceuticals is working. My A1C is what makes me most proud...5.8. That's only 0.1 higher than a non-diabetic person! And the best of it...I'm not even trying! I eat whatever and whenever including pizza, ice cream and of course lots of pasta. I have cut down on drinking a lot, as you know, but I still have about eight drinks or so each week.

Now, am I saying I'll best my pops and make it past his current age? Um, no. I don't think I'll even see my eighties. But I had wondered for quite a while there over the past decade or two whether I'd outlive him. He drank more than I ever did I would guess and of course he also smoked like a chimney, which I NEVER did, so he indeed has some iron clad constitution. 

Looking at him now, I doubt he drinks or smokes anymore. But then again, he's always been a rebel. He's fucking Kid Chase, Baby! Maybe he still gets a six in every now and then and a pack or two. 

I worry about my piddling little pussy disease of diabetes. Maybe he's got the Big C. Well he always thought my mother's father staved his own bout with that off for years with his drinking, maybe that's his remedy for his own?

Well cheers to you, ol' wrinkly corpse lookin motha fucker! I'll raise a glass to that dear ol' dad!