Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Memories of my Dad

I am definitely not the best blogger. Much of the reason why I have not written for many months was because of my Dad. After an almost five year battle with cancer, he finally was overcome and passed away on November 13, 2009. About a week and a half before that, he was admitted into the hospital with the Swine Flu. Isn't that ironic? Who knew that he'd be a swine flu victim. I certainly didn't think that!

My dad was first diagnosed with Prostate Cancer during the last few months of my senior year in high school, in 2005. There have been many miracles in preserving his life. The odds were never with him. If there was some rare side effect of a treatment, he would almost always contract it. It was amazing the fight that he put up. After a few years, he was finally in remission for the prostate cancer, but he was found to have an even more deadly one, multiple myeloma. This is one of the things that he eventually died from.

All of the kids in my family got an email on Wednesday night telling us of the gravity of the situation. He had been put into a medically induced coma, and as they reduced the medicine, he didn't come out of it. We all flew home as soon as we could. It was so nice to be there with my siblings and my mom. We all had known that it would eventually come to this, but we never imagined that it would be this soon. He had fought so hard and prior to this sick spell, had been feeling better than he had in a few years. Earlier in the year, around the fourth of July, my entire family, all 25 of us, had gotten together. We were able to take some very nice family pictures and have a great vacation together. It was a wonderful time, and I have some great memories that I will cherish forever.



The last few months have been very difficult. Luckily, I have some of the best roommates and friends. They have been with me every step of the way. I try and remember what I loved about my dad. I loved that I had the opportunity to live in the house alone with my parents for a few years. I was able to grow so much closer to them because of that experience. I love that he was always there for me. He would always say "I love you" when he was on the phone, and I knew that he truly meant it. I love that he instilled the love of music in me. I loved falling asleep to him playing the piano. Because of his influence, I love playing the piano. I love that he loved the gospel so much. He truly loved the Lord and instilled that in all of us as his children. I love that he loved my mom so much. My parents were never super affectionate in front of us children, but there was a deep love that was very apparent. It showed me how I want someone to treat me someday. I know that I will see him again and I am so grateful for that knowledge!

Ski Season

For the last two months, I have had the wonderful opportunity to take a ski class! I figure, what could be better than spending my last semester up on a beautiful mountain? There's not much that came to mind, let me tell you!

So the first time that I ever went skiing, was last year. I know, right? I've been living so close to some of the best mountains in the world for five years, and it took me that long to go. Well, I've repented and am doing my best to correct the situation. :)

My ski class started the first week of school, and ended the last week of February. We would go on Wednesday afternoons and just ski for a few hours. It was so nice to have some real instruction. I finally know at least a little bit of the correct technique. It is becoming so fun and I go as often as I can. I do not know where I will be next year, and so I'm definitely taking advantage of the close resorts while I can! It's just fun to get out and enjoy nature, no matter what capacity you are doing it.