Great News!

My dad just called me. There are no real developments, good or bad, from his oncology appointment, but the point is my dad called me. My mom didn't have to call with a report, he felt like calling himself and we talked for well over an hour. He wanted to know about the latest home improvement efforts at The Hellhole, shared some plumbing woes, we compared coughs and computers and snarked on people - it was exactly like a normal conversation with my dad! During the course of the discussion, he said twice that he was grilling hamburgers this evening and "Sure do wish you'd come over for a burger" - so I halted the supper preparations I had in progress, now I'm waiting for Alan to finish his commute and then we're heading out to Cowshit to grill some burgers with my dad!
*crying, but doing the Happy Dance anyway*