30 years ago

yesterday i was at my mother's house. i found an old journal my father managed to keep for about a year of his life 30 years ago. i decided to take it home and type it up to share with my family. luckily my father had decent hand writing. this project is going more easily than i thought. i can't say i love sitting at my computer typing, but i love reliving my childhood through my father's eyes, especially with the added perspective i now have of being his age. he was just about my current age when he was writing these entries. i just finished one dated june 12, 1979. here's the final paragraph of that entry:

Friday night and Sunday morning I went to help an elderly lady in our ward to put to bed and get out of bed her husband who is very nearly completely paralyzed from a stroke. He seems to be very alert mentally but is almost completely dependant on others for everything. He cannot even speak beyond just a few words. I would never want to be in a condition like that. If I were no longer able to do anything I would much rather pass along to a new task. This also has impressed upon me more deeply the importance of doing worthwhile and important things now while I can. I must not let the time go by without accomplishing something of worth there is much to do.