My father passed away at home on November 28, 2007 and the world as I knew it was changed forever. He was diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer in October 2006. He was told he could have surgery to remove the tumor but suffered a minor heart attack shortly after diagnosis. In December 2006 he was scheduled to have surgery and unfortunately while in surgery was told that it had spread to the liver. My father was home that Christmas but it was bitter sweet, we didn’t know that it would be our last Christmas with him. My father started chemotherapy in 2007. He tried the only two treatments approved for Esophageal Cancer. Neither of them worked and he was told there was nothing else that could be done. That day was one of the hardest for me, and only one of many to follow. My father, superman, the one who had so much strength and had overcome so much in his life, was terminally ill and there was nothing in the world that I could do. I felt so unbelievably helpless. I never left my dad’s side…I was with him every step of the way…it was one of the hardest journey’s I have ever had to face…but I did it…I was with him to the end.
A year has passed and I still struggle through each day. I feel such a big part of me is missing. My father was everything to me. He always there to give me advice but he still let me make my own choices. He was there no matter what; to bail me out, or to tell me he was proud of me. I know that I am so blessed to have had a father like him in my life for some never have that at all.
My father will continue to live brightly in my heart, in my thoughts, and in the stories I share with others. May you rest in peace, Daddy!
