Mom and Dad 2.0

Even after Mom divorced Dad, they kept in touch with each other.  Nothing serious, Dad remarried and had his own family and Mom had her boyfriends.

But after Dad got divorced in the 80s, Mom reconnected him.  After all, they had a son together and shared so many memories when they were young.  Also Mom remained very close friends with Hazel, her mother-in-law, till she passed at 100 years old.  So, J.A. Luzader was never completely out of her life.

“Mom and Dad 2.0” would visit each other every so often.  Dad would come to Hawaii or Mom would fly to Arkansas.  They even traveled together on trips.  They just enjoyed each other as old friends.

Mom said Dad felt guilty for not being a good husband and father. After all these years, he realized how good he had it when he was married to Mom.  He has so many regrets in life.

In 2019, with Dad’s health failing, Mom wanted to see him one last time in Arkansas.  Mom was 91 so she couldn’t travel by herself.  Reluctantly, I At first, I didn’t want to but eventually Mom said she wanted to see him before he died. Since I didn’t want Mom traveling all the way to Arkansas by herself, I went too.

We spent a week at Dad’s house in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dad was too weak to do anything, but Mom and I went on road trips every day.  It was nuts, I had so much fun with Mom…she’s crazy!

I never spent any time with Dad as an adult, so it was very different. Dad was actually a very likable person.  In his 90s, age mellowed him a lot…and like Mom, his mind was still sharp.  He had a great sense of humor and enjoyed saying witty things…

It wasn’t too long after we came back home that Dad passed away.  He was 91.