96 metro lsi automatic shifting trouble...

96 metro lsi automatic the symptoms. . .
~ Having trouble putting it in park. I'll either have to force the shifter pretty hard, or move the car around until the tires move a little then it will slip into park.
~ When I do put it in park it idles higher for a few seconds then goes back to normal.
~ One day after driving it 20 miles and letting it sit for about 5 hours, went to put it in gear and the shifter was extremely loose. I tried to put it into drive, but it wouldn't click into it like it normally does. Luckily, I was able to get it into second gear. Once I got it out on the road it went into drive and the car seemed to shift totally fine on the way back. The weird thing is, after I parked it somewhere else and went to leave, the shifter seemed to work like new it wasn't loose at all.

Thanks for reading this post. . . hope to hear your guy's feedback

Sounds like a problem with the shifter itself or the shift cable.