My neighbors helped to get the car on the road. Driving through a snowstorm in winter of 1995 I hoped to get to Coatesville before my dad passed. Going out the door I stopped to straighten the rug. A little voice said “You don’t have time for that.”

 My boss Tom Cassidy gave me all the time off work I wanted. 

My mom was in a room down the hall at Brandywine Hospital. A nurse asked if I wanted her in my dad’s room. I said no. She was in the last stage of dementia and would upset my dad. 

I stayed at our family home on Stirling St. For several days I could sit with my dad. 

Going out the door one day I stopped to straighten the rug. A little voice said “You don’t have time for that.”

Arriving at his room he had already passed. He died when I was in the elevator.

My mom died a few days later.

James Pitcherella