Recently, we found out my dad has late-stage congestive heart failure, and we think (because he won't tell anyone) that he only has two or so years left. One hobby we both share is low-level coin collecting. That being said, his birthday is coming up this June, and I am looking for ideas on what to do. Please keep in mind that I am a student, so we are on a limited budget.
One thing that I was thinking of is coin roll hunting. I know that it can be rather disappointing at times, so I was thinking about doing pennies. I know that it's a cheaper coin, but the variety of designs and dates you can find is rather nice, and even if they were all 2025's, that is not really a miss. I worry, however, that someone with his condition may struggle to do that (does anyone know if that might be too much?) while simultaneously being concerned that it seems a bit cheap for what may be a last hurrah. Should I do some Whitman albums to go along with it? I sort of like this idea because it has the inherent benefit of some quality time hunting together.
Another idea is to create a type set with a birth-year slot for him. I have the coins in my collection that I can use, so I can do that relatively easily, although they are not necessarily the best. I could also get a proof set of the birth-year coins, and since he isn't very old, it won't be that expensive, haha. Do any dads in the community have ideas on how that might go over?
I know a lot of you may see this as me overthinking it and that my dad would like anything I give, and while that might be true, I really want to do something nice. He has been a great support for me, which has not always been easy with us being so broke. After getting into my law program on what is functionally a full tuition scholarship, it was always my hope that I would be able to make things so much easier for him, especially in retirement. Now he probably won't even live to retirement and may well not even live until I graduate. I have even contemplated taking some time off from school, but I know that he would not support that. It has been a major distraction as I often find myself thinking about this, and I feel like it would help me as much as it would help him if I could at least make his birthday special.