March 17th, 2008

As you all know my dad had cancer and things were getting rough for him. On Monday March, 17th my dad passed away at about 6:16 am.

Of course it's a hard thing to go through but my sister and I especially have been processing this situation since January when I came home. We were prepared for this to happen and we were okay with it.

The end of the road started off kinda rocky for my dad on Sunday afternoon but it "ended" the best way it could. My dad was asleep, no machines hooked up to him (he didn't want that!) and he just let go. There was no struggle for air, no moaning, no grunting, just sleep which is what he was begging for on Sunday night.

Don't worry, my sister and I were not alone, we weren't even here when my dad was having the rough times. My mom and step dad were here (my mom did EVERYTHING for my dad!!), a couple of my dads close friends, and my aunts and uncle came up from Oregon.

Whitney and I slept at friends houses until we got the call from our mom to come home because we didn't have much time.

Even when my dad was on his "death bead" he was still very much himself! He was sort of in and out because of the medication but his spunk and personality was still there which was awesome and helped. When I told my dad I was going to my friends for a littl bit and that I loved him I started to cry and he just looked at me and said "Kayli, you're not going to the mooon and back, I'll still be here when you get home!" haha.

When my aunts walked in the room he said "That is a long drive, what the hell are you doing here?" and when one of them started to cry in his room he opened his eyes, looked at them, and said "No crying in this room!"

The most amazing part about this, my dad did not shed ONE tear! He was SO strong and wanted nothing more but to have people laughing around him even when he was miserable. What an amazing guy, I am lucky to have had him for 22 years, he always has been and always will be my hero, Love you Dad!