Father is sinking...

Father is sinking

by Nicholas Andrian on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 12:48am

Well, father has rallied in the past after some setbacks, but my sister called me late tonight to say that he is sinking. When I saw him at Christmas, just over two weeks ago, I asked him if he recognized me and he whispered "You're my son." I was gratified. If he lasts until Feb. 10, he will be 86, but that is very unlikely, according to his doctor. Alexander George Andrian, my father, has had a good run; he pretty much did whatever he wanted and didn't look back very often, although he has always been very nostalgic, a trait he passed down to me. Like him, I was blessed with a very good memory; one of my very earliest was that of choking on a large gumball, my mother screaming hysterically, while my father tried in vain to stick his fingers down my throat. He saved my life by turning me upside down and smaking me on the back with his powerful hand. We lived in the Bronx then; I was two and a half, so it is indeed my earliest memory. I can still remember him carrying me around downtown Newark in his arms, taking me to see Abbot and Costello movies, buying me a pedal car that had "Chrysler" written on the back, driving around Newark in his elegant Packard...And those fabulous Christmases! I guess that's why I'm still like a kid at Christmas, playing Christmas music and wearing Christmas ties from Halloween on...He was such a tiger for his family, especially his kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. He often said that he wanted to live long enough so that my niece Theresa's son, Alex (named after him), now ten, would always remember him. That prayer has been answered for him.