I can see the sun glistening off the snow covering the treetops as I glide down the mountain. Suddenly I feel a lot of snow sprayed on me as my dad speeds past in his usual perfect formation, as if he’s a slalom skier about to pass the finish line. He goes around a bend, following the curve of the trail, and skis out of sight. When I finally catch up to him I am shocked at what I see. My dad is getting up from a fall – he never falls – and both his skis and poles are scattered around the trail. In all his years of skiing, as far as I know, my dad has never been injured despite some careless falls.
As I ski down to my dad I pick up his matching black skis and poles. I get closer to him and see a look in his eyes that worries me. I hide my concern and calmly ask, “Are you okay? ” My dad, in his classic old man skill outfit (ugly neon yellow pants and a black jacket with matching neon yellow zippers), looks at me with a blank stare and says, “I think so. ” “My shoulder just hurts a little. Do you wanna get lunch now? ” he replies as he puts his skis back on. “Sure. ” We ski down to the lift and take it back to the main face of the mountain.
My dad and I get off the lift and begin descending to the base lodge through a nice and easy green trail. Skiing behind my dad he looks like he always does, making perfect turns, gliding past the other skiers with ease. Familiarized with the trails, my family and I always meet up in the same spots. My dad suddenly stops at a place where we usually don’t stop. I stop next to him when I notice the confused look on his face. I ask, “What’s wrong? ” “Where’s my helmet? ” “You forgot it at the hotel today. ” “Okay. Where are your sisters? ” “They were at the terrain park, they’re going to meet us for lunch soon. This is very, very bad. He’s asking me questions that he would usually know the answers to. Before I can speak again my dad asks, ‘Where’s my helmet? ” I say, “You forgot it at the hotel today,” again. “Where are Lauren and Sami? ” “The terrain park,” I respond while nervously playing with my nails. “Dad, you fell earlier and I think you hit your head. You keep asking me the same questions even after I answer you. Let’s ski down to the bottom of the mountain and find someone to check you out just to make sure you are okay. ” He reluctantly agrees and we quickly ski down to the base lodge.
My dad has no problem getting down the rest of the mountain, taking off his skis, and putting them on the ski rack. It seems almost like he wants to prove to me, and to himself, that he really is okay. I see someone who works at the mountain and walk over to her. “Hi, my dad fell and hit his head and I’m just wondering if you could get someone to take a look at him. He seems to be a bit confused to me and I want to make sure nothing really bad happened. ” “Sure thing. Why don’t you get him to sit down on that bench while I radio someone over. The woman keeps looking back at my dad with a worried look on her face but she quickly springs into action to get a medic over to check him out. I walk over to my dad and say, “Dad I talked to a woman who works here and she’s getting a ski patroller to come take a look at you. She wants you to sit down. ”
“Okay,” he says as we walk over and sit down on the bench. “Can you call Lauren and Sami and let them know what happened? ” “Yeah. ” I walk a few feet away and dial my younger sister’s number. “Hey Sami, dad and I are in front of the base lodge. He hit his head and we’re waiting for a ski patroller. “Is he gonna be okay? She asks with a worried voice. “I think so,” I whisper, even though I’m not really sure. “Just get over here with Lauren. ” “Okay. I’ll see you soon,” she says as she hangs up the phone. I walk back over to my dad and find him talking to a man wearing a red ski suit with a white plus sign on his shoulder – the classic uniform of a ski patroller. “I think you’ll be fine,” the ski patroller is saying to my dad. “Just remember these three words for me, ‘red truck ten’. If you can’t remember them when you’re done with lunch then come find me. ” “Okay, thank you so much sir. ” “No problem. ” says the man as he walks away.
My dad and I walk into the warm, crowded lodge and are greeted by the enticing smell of chili and mac and cheese. Pushing our way through families and little kids running around screaming, we spot my sisters sitting at a perfect table. It is right next to a window facing the parking lot that is filled over capacity with many types of cars. I sit down in the seat across from Lauren, her long brown hair hitting the table. I take off my warm black jacket and put it over the back of my chair, an act that will save our table from the hundreds of other hungry skiers anxiously looking for a place to rest and eat.
My dad, practically screaming across the table to be heard over all of the noise, asks, “Ally, do you want food? ” “Yes please, “I reply to my dad. Since he is the one who usually gets us all our food it is weird that he asks me, “Can you buy me a medium chili and a water? ” as he hands me his Mastercard. “Okay, Sami, are you coming? ” “Yup,” she replies. We walk over to the buffet style cafeteria, barely hearing the sounds of each other’s ski boots clacking against the floor over the giggles of two little girls walking behind us. We get on line for food when Sami looks at me and asks, “Is dad going to be okay? “I don’t know. He’ll probably be fine. Dad always turns out okay. ” I say, but inside I’m not so sure if I even believe myself. Sami looks up to me, her big sister, and says, “I know, but I’m just scared. ” I give her a hug as we approach the front of the line. We quickly grab two mac and cheeses for the two of us, a chili for my dad, and chicken fingers with french fries for Lauren. Sami and I walk over to the cashier, a young, pale woman with a short black bob. She begins pressing buttons on her screen and says, “That’ll be $50. 25. ”
T hand over the credit card, murmur “thank you”, and power walk back to our table, desperate to feed the hungry lions that live in my stomach. Sami and I set the food trays down on the table and my family begins to devour the food. We sit in silence, everyone anxious to fill their stomachs to capacity. After we all finished our food Lauren looks at my dad and says, “Are you going to be okay? ” “I’m fine. Who wants to go back out there? ” “I do, just let me go to the bathroom first,” says Sami. “Wait Sami I need to go too! ” Lauren shouts.
As they walk away my dad says, “What, no bathroom for you? “I don’t need to go. ” I wanted to stay by my dad, feeling somewhat responsible for checking on him since I am the oldest child and the one who was with him when time stopped and his memory failed. I begin putting on my ski gear when I remember that my dad needed to repeat a phrase. I look at him and ask, “What is the phrase you need to remember? ” “Red truck ten. ” He says and we both smile. It’s at that moment that I feel in my heart that my dad, my strong, determined, refusing to give in dad, is going to be just fine, and, because of that, so am I.
