Get up

"Are you okay?" I lean in for a closer look, finally squatting like a baseball catcher.

"Uhm, yeah, just a minute, let me get my bearings straight." He lets out a loud sigh.

"At least you didn't hit your head this time."

"You say so." He slowly sits up while rubbing the thin, gray hair.

"Do you want the wheelchair? You know it's right over there, like I said BEFORE this happened." I point to the other side of the room where the blue vinyl and chrome frame travel option awaits.

"No, just help me get back to the couch." The grumpiness is hard to miss.

I waddle closer and bend down on a knee while placing my hands in his armpits.

"Are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Ready? 1 .. 2 ... 3...." I grunt loudly while lifting him as he groans. I lower my body to position my left shoulder under his right.I maintain the grip on this hands and slowly wobble him the 3 feet to the couch. I kick the walker to the side and push the coffee table out with my foot before lowering onto the sofa.

"Ah thank you son." He reaches out and places my hands in his hands while slowly rubbing and patting.

"Anytime old man." I pull my hands away, embarrassed by the incident."

He leans back after grabbing a cigarette and taps the lighter to ignite it. He smiles after a long inhale.

"I never thought 79 would be such a rough year."