The Long Goodbye

My family has spent five years preparing for the day, but when my father passed away, it was still painful. November 2001 landed a blow to my family. We learned of my father's liver cancer, which had already claimed the life of my dad's youngest brother in 1998. My father scheduled surgery to have the cancer removed only to learn later that the cancer mass was too large; the surgeon's only option was to stitch him back up, cancer in tact. My father had a grim prognosis, and we were preparing ourselves for imminent death. He proved us wrong.

Since learning of his cancer in 2001, my father took numerous trips especially to Las Vegas, attended all the parties he could, met with friends, and arranged his chemotherapy treatments around vacations and football games. Living life became his priority. It wasn't until recently that his body began to wear out. My brother Kyle and I got the call last month from my youngest brother that we needed to make preparations for one last visit.

The trip was planned for the Veteran's Day weekend. My brother, his wife, and their newborn son had left on Wednesday, 11/8, for Hawai'i. My father was weak with cancer, unable to eat, move or talk, but he recognized Conner, and even tried to mouth his name. He met his first grandson. I flew in on 11/9, but my father passed away while I was enroute to Hawaii. Fortunately I was welcomed home by immediate and extended family who helped to ease the transition for me, my mom, brothers, and sisters-in-law. And now we make the final preparations and bid farewell one last time for a life well lived.