In Honor of my Grandpa and my Dad

[Briarcliff Manor]

Grandpa:
February 26th, 2010.
That day is ingrained into my mind.
You were doing in home hospice.
All you could do is lie there in bed.
I remember seeing you there only a week before,
looking quite thin beneath your sheets.
You could barely move.
Deep down I knew you wouldn't stay with us for long.
But a larger part on my thirteen year old mind told me
That you would make it.
The morning of February 27th, 2010,
my dad broke the news to me.
I cried hard that morning.
Knowing you were gone was...hard to...fathom.

But I will never forget the thirteen years I got to spend with you.
I will never forget your love of trains,
And how you bought me one for my first Christmas.
I will also never forget our quiet moments watching T.V. in the living room.

Most of all,
I will never forget mom's story of the afternoon before you passed.
You said you didn't think you were going to be with us much longer.
Mom and grandma started to cry,
And told you not to talk like that.
They kept crying expecting you to pass any second.
My mom finally asked "I thought you said you were going to leave us soon."
And all you said to her was:
"Well what do you expect? I've never done this before."

I miss you grandpa.
Some days I wish you were still around.
Still here to see me, Rachel, Allison, and Sarah grow up.
I wish you were here to see me and Rachel celebrate our Sweet 16's.
But I know you are in a better place now,
and as mom puts it:
"Eating lasagna with the saints."

 

[Briarcliff Manor]

Dad:
You are one of the toughest people I know.
You have been there for me since the beginning,
And I could never have asked for e better father than you.
You were a have been smoking since the age of fourteen,
and have continued until last summer
When the world came crashing down:
You had Lung cancer.

I remember the story:
Mom, Sarah and I went to Aunt Annie's house for a day.
You stayed home because you weren't feeling well.
That day you said you coughed up some blood.
You went to the emergency room, and they took an X-ray.
The doctors noticed a lump near your lungs.

It wasn't until September 2012 that I first heard the news.
I remember that night:
We were washing dishes when the phone rang.
I put down the dish towel to pick it up.
It was a phone call reminding my dad of an appointment.
I thought nothing of it at the time.
I figured it was just a routine check up.
I told my dad there was a reminder of an appointment.
He just said okay.

Later that night I was finishing my homework
When you came in and sat down on the couch opposite me.
I said "Hi" and expected a lecture about how my Spanish grade needs to improve.
Instead he said he had something to tell me.
I put my stuff down and looked at him asking him what was wrong.
I can remember the exact look on his face
And the tone of his voice when he said:
'I have cancer."

I had been too shocked to speak.
My eyes widened and filled with tears.
I made my way over to the other couch,
and hugged him while I cried.
he explained all of what happened,
and I listened.
That doctor's reminder had been about a biopsy.

All through October, my dad had a few biopsies.
The first two didn't get enough tissue to test for cancer.
The third time it was definite.
He met with some surgeons to discuss probable causes.
The only two were 9/11 and his smoking.
A date was set for the surgery.
November 12th, 2012.
Another date that will remain in my memory.

On November 12th, the principal allowed me to have my cell phone on and with me,
to be updated about the surgery and such
As the hospital was in a neighboring state.
My mom texted me updates about what was happening.

I was extremely relieved when I heard you came out fine.
It was quite the surgery.
Part of your lung had to be removed.
I remember visiting you in the hospital a couple days later.
You were in quite a bit of pain, but you wouldn't let it show...a lot.

I am glad that you were able to win your battle.
And I am also glad that your chemotherapy is finally over.
Not everyone is lucky enough to survive,
but I am overjoyed that you did.