Life can be so very frustrating. I love my father. I care about whether or not he lives or dies. But he can be such an irritation to me.

When I�m sick or uncomfortable, I want to be left alone. I generally go into my room, shut the door and don�t come out again until I�m well enough to be among other people. My mother is quite similar. She doesn�t want people fussing over her or asking her every ten minutes if she�s okay.

Dad, on the other hand, wants people to fuss over him. He really enjoyed the hospital for that one reason. Someone was always there at his beck and call. That would so completely tick me off.

Dad wants people to adore and love him, to dote on him and pamper him when he�s sick. It frustrates me so very much. The problem isn�t so much that he wants attention, but the way he asks for it. He doesn�t just come out and say something like, �I�d like some attention.� Or �Would you mind doing something for me?� He whines.

*growls* He�ll look at you as if he couldn�t move or do anything on his own. He gets the big, sad puppy dog face and whimpers that he would really like some tea. I think I could even handle that, but it�s like this�

He was sitting not three feet away from the tea pot and he asked me, further from the tea pot than he was, to pour him a mug of tea. His grandson, closer to the tea than I was, was right there and sitting with him for the purpose of soaking up love and attention and delivering the same.

So, why did he ask me to go out of my way to get him tea when he could have A) gotten it himself, B) had his grandson get it, or C) done without?

I don�t understand that mentality. I�ve lived with him for 30 years almost and I have dealt with this side of his personality before. I know all about this side of him. So, why does it still bother me?

More later, I'm just in need of foraging for food.