Casanova and the drug smuggler

I've been interviewing Dad and recording it à la StoryCorps this week. And although the original intent was just to capture the stories I love, a side effect is that Carl and I have been learning new things about our dad. For example:

1. He had "a lot of girlfriends" (his words, which practically gave us whiplash) before Mom, but when he met her, it was love at first sight.

2. He and Mom were married eight days shy of the first anniversary of the day they met. Which means they had known each other a whopping 357 days when they embarked on what would turn out to be a lifelong marriage.

3. When he and Mom went to Haiti in the summer of 1969 so he could do a residency rotation at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, they smuggled in vials of Valium in their luggage because, at the time, it was the only thing that would keep babies with neonatal tetanus (and there were a LOT of them) from dying from their seizures. They saved a lot of babies' lives that way.

4. He never really thought (until I asked him today) about what it might be like to see his parents again in heaven. He wonders if the people, the memories, and the colors will be the same as they were in this life.

Today I told him that I feel really lucky to be his daughter and that I will try to live my life in such a way that will make him proud. He said he didn't think that would be too hard for me. But I know I don't deserve him.