My Daddy's Hands

At the age of 11, I started working for my dad, who was a dentist. His first assistant was Betty Ebright and she was amazing. My daddy adored her and found her very valuable to the success of his dental practice. She was going to train me to be daddy's 'first assistant'.
For years and years, every day after school, I would go down to my dad's office where Betty would teach me what was what, and where everything went and when and how to do most everything she knew how to do. I worked hard and was paid well. Betty would instruct me in certain procedures and then I would assist my dad with the next patient. At first, dad would be very tolerant of my little mishaps and slowness of speed. But, the better I got, the more he got on me to 'move faster'..'mix this faster Marlys'..'hand me this, hand me that'...'faster Marlys, faster Marlys', until there would be days that I would go home crying. But I was good, and daddy knew it so that finally around age 15, we were the fastest 4 handed dentistry team you could find. I used to LOVE to watch our hands pass off and intercept instruments between the two of us. I had daddy's hands - 'Packard hands' - short, but fast. And we worked well together.
Today, those hands have retired from dentistry and have slowed to a saddening pace. Just this past week, my daddy was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease...a very surprising and unexpected turn of events. Daddy has always been the epitamy (sp?) of health. At age 83, he has held his own with the best of them and has been active as a sealer in the temple and his stake patriarch in Utah. There has not been many a day over his 83 years that he has not been able to fulfil his church callings, take care of my mother and be the best father and grandfather in the world. He has been a Regional Representative, a branch president, taught Seminary for years, a Mission President, a temple president, stake patriarch twice, a Spanish Regional Patriarch and temple sealer for years. He has been in the Scouting program for years being awarded the Silver Beaver - helped raise 12 children and 60 something grandchildren, teaching them all a variety of tons of games - card games, board games, mind games and Make a Million, and most of all, teaching the infinite techniques of making homemade taffy - all while practicing dentistry for 40+ years. It wouldn't surprise me to find a red 'S' on his chest.
This week, he has taken a sudden and surprising health turn for the worst. He is in pain, immobile, has tremors and shaking of hands and legs and finds himself sleeping most of the day. When I say this is sudden, I mean, last week he was NORMAL!!! But some in the temple noticed a drag in his walk and some shaking in his hands and brought it to the attention of my mother. She watched and sadly observed the same. She was stunned to see the obvious muscle weakness throughout his body and the way it was debilitating his performance. Then the diagnosis. Many tears - my father is devestated at his limitations...my mother is visibly shaken. This is has been a stunning announcement to us 12 children. I'm not quite sure how to take it all in right now or when is the appropriate time to have my melt down. I'm told we should wait until we see how dad reacts to certain medications...to see if he shows any improvement. But my emotions are telling me that I'm already mourning the loss of the 'daddy' that I've always known. I'm sad and I'm afraid that he will never be the same again.
I never thought 83 was that old when I watched my daddy at family reunion and other get-togethers. But this past week, he gave a new definition to 'aged'. It's the first time I have had to consider my daddy 'old' and I don't like it. I don't like it all.
Those hands that have always been busy in serving his Heavenly Father, family and friends, are now firmly clasped together so that no-one will notice how severe the tremors have become. He has found that by holding them together is the only way others won't notice.
But I will always notice the hands that I watched for years.