The Father

 My brother is a good man. He takes care of my dad.  He does everything for him and our entire family is grateful.  That's why I get annoyed with my dad when he ignores my brother's requests.  My brother asks my dad to wait for him whenever he wants to get up and walk somewhere.  He wants this because my dad has had some bad falls that have landed him in the hospital.  My dad's 92 years old and, even with a walker, his walking is neither steady nor stable. 

I was talking on the phone with my brother a few days ago when he walked into the living room to bring my dad the phone. Lo and behold my dad had walked across the room to get something.  My brother exploded at my dad.  I hung up and called my dad a few hours later.  Come to find out, my dad was mad at my brother and considered his outburst an over-reaction.  

I disagreed with my dad and suggested that he apologize to my brother. "Dan does everything to keep you safe, Dad, and you need to cooperate."  He grumbled, but eventually acquiesced. Then he asked me to look up books by John Masters on the internet so he could review the plot lines with me.  Many of John Masters' books have to do with the British army and some people called Ghurkas. We've had several sessions of John Masters internet research in recent weeks.

Before we signed off, Dad was back to his old self.  "I'm going to apologize to your brother," he told me.  "As soon as I get off the phone with you, I'm going to walk into the kitchen and tell him I'm sorry and that I'll do better!"

"NOT FUNNY DAD!" I shouted at him, but his laughter got to me and I ended up laughing as well.  As per usual.

That was a few days ago and I never asked if an apology happened.  I have serious doubts, but I've probably done all I can do to make this happen.