Drive away 'regrets'

How do we drive away regrets? 

Today, I would like to tell you what my Dad told me... what he regretted. Well, I will only tell this one thing for those who should realize what a devastating effect this can be.

My Dad regretted allowing his wife to be 'put into' a nursing home. What he told me was... "I didn't think she would be in there forever. I thought I would still be able to take her home."

I hadn't signed for her to be 'put in there' because I had worked in a nursing home when I was a teenager and I knew that was not a place I ever wanted to go to and, most certainly, I never imagined one of my parents would be placed into a facility of that kind.

So, one day, somewhat early on... I like to use language like... early into her, (my Mom's), forced incarceration because she, quite literally, could not get out... I visited my Dad. 

As usual, he was sitting at his kitchen table with his Bible and, on this day, I just put things into the kitchen and sat down to listen to him... he was very adept at 'talk therapy.' He was a man who needed to talk things out and he was never too proud to ask an opinion of his children who had a much better grasp of the English language than he did.

He often took something out to talk about something that was important to him. On this day, it was Mom's driver's license. "This is good," he said. 

Mom was over 40 years of age when she got her driver's license. It was her 'proud moment.' It was also Dad's proud moment. You see, mostly, my Dad wasn't one to 'hold out on' or 'hold back' the progress his family made. So, on this day, Dad was holding Mom's driver's license... and having a very good memory. He was sad because Mom was no longer in their home but he was still celebrating her achievement. 

The best thing we can do in life is to live in such a way that we become adept at the skill of 'driving away regrets.'