The Moustache Incident

Almost exactly a month ago when my dad was in the hospital, one afternoon his nurse Desiree and her tech walked into my dad's hospital room to wash and change him. Jo and I left and wandered  downstairs to the hospital cafe for a sugar fix. When we came back up my dad looked nice and groomed and clean. The two women were still shaving him. I saw the look on Jo's face and took a closer peek and realized that they were shaving his moustache. Half of it was gone.

Not wanting to make them feel bad and as there was nothing to be done in any case, we ignored it as best as we could and chatted with the ladies while they finished up.

About an hour later Nicolle and the kids showed up. Vivian and Evan took one look at my dad and  ignored his drawn face and closed eyes and the two iv's and the nasal tube taped to his nose and loudly asked "What happened to Grandpa's moustache?!"

Desiree turned red and quickly left the room.

Later after the kids had left and her shift was almost over she came in and said that she had run down to the charge nurse and told her that she had made a terrible mistake. When asked if she had given someone the wrong medication she said "Not, it's worse than that. I shaved off a man's moustache!"

We calmed her down and told her that it wasn't a big deal. And that my dad didn't care one way or another. And that he probably appreciated being shaved by two ladies. We all laughed for the first time since bringing my dad to the hospital. And then she asked "How long has he had that moustache?"

"All my life and a lot longer" I told her and she started turning red again.

Here's an old photo of that moustache from before my days.