can you stand more?????

Let me set you the scene. Everyday when I get home from work, no matter what time, my dad is in his recliner in his bedroom, watching TV. Oh, rarely he might be in the kitchen or bathroom, but generally, he's in his chair in the afternoon.

Today, I get home at exactly 5 pm and the hallway (off the "foyer") light is on for no apparent reason. I go into my dad's room off the hallway and he is not there. I go around the corner into the kitchen and he is not there. I backtrack down the hallway where the light was left on and open the door to the garage. The garage light is on but no one is out there. I am beginning to think "WTF?" And getting...concerned. Is this the day my dad has a TIA and goes out wandering around the neighborhood in confusion? Is this the day someone really did sneak up on him and kill him in his chair (like I'm always predicting is gonna happen because he never hears me come in until I'm standing over him)?

Because it's exactly 5 pm and D takes pills at 5, even though D is downstairs in the living room, I wonder if my dad didn't realize he was there and went upstairs to remind him of the time. I run upstairs. No one is up there. I run down and practically scream at D, "Where's Grampa??????" D has no idea. As far as he knows, he's in his room. My heart is pounding. I go to the door to the back porch, and it is locked from the inside. I open it anyway.

Oh, yeah, there's my dad on the porch stairs, blithely sweeping leaves off with a broom. "DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN! Tell D if you're going outside! And why are you outside sweeping at 5 pm anyhow?"

"I dunno. I looked out and there were a lot of leaves there."

So, anyway, he thinks the fact that he scared me to death is hilarious, but he agrees he should tell somebody if he's going out in the yard. (And you do realize this is probably revenge for my Catholic church harassment.)

Who goes out the garage door, closes it, and walks around to the back porch anyhow? I'm not completely ruling out the TIA, yo.

xoxo