Thursday night, my sister, Wendy, returned from a trip to France. Friday morning, still groggy with jet lag, she went to visit Dad.

Around the kitchen table at the Board and Care, Wendy enjoyed a cup of coffee with Dad and a few other “clients.”

One woman expressed to Wendy that she was very concerned about her daughter, Margaret (who happens to be a friend of mine). “She is having so many troubles with Immigration. I’m worried she will be deported.”

Margaret is a born-and-raised American, living locally.

“Margaret will be fine,” Wendy answered.

“Could you help her with Immigration?” Margaret’s mother asked her.

“Got it covered!” Wendy answered reassuringly, which satisfied Margaret’s mother.

Another man told Wendy that he had retired just two weeks ago from work and needed to get back on the job. “They’re really struggling without me,” he said, shaking his head. “Running the company into the ground.”

Then a woman told Wendy that it was important Dad stick around today because the Board and Care was going to be having a lot of problems. “We need him here to help,” she said, as if she had just uncovered a terrorist plot.

Solemnly, Dad nodded in agreement.

The thing was, Wendy said later, that in her jet-lagged mental fuzz, they all made perfect sense.