I remember it like it was yesterday. Grandma was having "headaches" so most of our summer fishing trips were canceled. As the season progressed, I saw less and less of her. Then one day while rummaging through my parent's closet for money (never said I was a good kid) I found the cause of grandma's "headache".
It seems that grandma had brain cancer. If memory serves I found her x-ray and it scared the Hell out of me. Things continued to go downhill and by Christmas the struggle was near the finish line. Unable to shop, she gave my mother money to buy Christmas presents. I got a cool Hot Wheel's garage and my baby sister some fancy necklace.
All she did that day was hold my baby sister and watch me play with my toys. I remember thinking that must have been a boring day for her...
By February my grandmother was dead. She passed this life in a cold hospital bed that at the time did not allow children in to visit. I said farewell to her the best I could, mumbling a little prayer at the funeral home.
She spoiled me rotten and made me the best chocolate pies. God help my grandfather if he DARED steal a piece of pie before I arrived. That sweet lady knew how to take care of her grandson. But she was no match for Cancer, and so left this world far too soon. That was 1982...
Yesterday my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. We have three more weeks of testing, but the doctors think this is serious. At the least he is facing major surgery, followed by a month long recovery. And that's best case scenario. If the malady has spread as they suggest it has, well that's a whole new ballgame.
Our's is a fishing family. My grandmother taught me how to sit perfecting still so that the big white perch (Crappie for my Northern Friends) would take the bait. And my father? The fish we have pulled out of the Gulf of Mexico would make Ernest Hemingway grin.Time at the hospital is often passed sharing favorite fishing memories.
Cancer will have it's hands full fighting with my old man. He's tough as a mule and stubborn as a billy goat. And of course we will be there for him as well. Sorry Cancer, pick on my daddy and this whole family is going to hunt you down! I almost feel sorry for the cancer...
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