Saying Good-Bye...

Saying good bye to a loved one is hard. It gets much more emotional and more difficult when you know that the good bye will be the last time ever.

My father passed away very early in the morning on Sunday, surrounded by his wife, brother and sister in law, and his sons and daughters. He also died with the thoughts and prayers of friends and other loved ones.

Rod was a fighter. For two years, he valiantly fought a dreaded disease, lung cancer. His lung cancer was so advanced when we first found it nearly 2 years ago, we were not sure if the chemo and radiation would save him. Surgery for lung replacement was out of the question.

He fought hard to get through double doses of chemo and radiation therapy, enduring them on a daily basis.

Despite the pain, he still worked hard around the house, trying to get stuff done for mom.

Since this past March, things got significantly worse. He was admitted to the Buffalo Hospital for a week for some lung problems. They found more cancer, specifically in his spine and on his brain. They transferred him up to St Cloud for long term treatment. A month in the St Cloud Hospital seemed to be enough and it was determined that he would be released to Home Hospice care.

Some medical professionals expected Rod to live only another 2 months. Rod has fought cancer at every turn. Fighting harder when things got tougher. My mom took the brunt of most of this, being the family member home with him the most. She endured every level of cancer just as gracefully as Rod fought it tough. He fought for six more months with us here on Earth, hoping that he could squeeze two more months out of the good lord so that he could be at our wedding in 50 days.

He'll still play a prominent role in spirit!

No doubt about that. Thank you for all your support over the past several months, it's deeply appreciated.

We'll resume normal programming soon...