Coke

The first item on Dad's favorite things list has got to be coke. Now I recognize that we all have our little addictions, but my dad's relationship to coke borders more on obsession. When my dad became confused, one of the few reoccuring coherant themes has been "I want a coke". He got so desperate in the hospital when he couldn't eat or drink that we actually took the sponge we were using to wet his mouth and dipped it in a coke. "That's the good stuff" he says "Now let me have the whole cup".
Several months ago my dad had a dream in which he went to heaven and discovered that there was no coke. He was extremely distraught by this idea. The next day at church my dad lost the ability to speak and had to be rushed to the hospital. On the way to the hospital he started to point to a gas station, indicating that my mom should pull over. My mom, worried that my dad was going to be sick, pulled the car into the gas station, at which point my dad went inside and got a coke. Who stops on the way to the emergency room to get a coke? I guess he didn't want to risk dying without one last fix.