Pop Pop Story

Started off with me having to move back to Indiana. First, my mom was nowhere to be found, so I wasn’t able to say good bye and that I loved her. I really wanted to be able to hug her one last time. She did the same thing when I was a kid. It made me feel unwanted all over again, so I got on the bus with nothing but 3 bags and no money.

His friend said he had nothing to worry about, most likely it was just a fatty tumor. As days went on he grew more and more exhausted and was not acting himself. After deciding to look into another doctor he found out the news, terminal stage 4 lung cancer had filled his whole chest cavity. The doctors seemed urgent and wanted to get a biopsy to look into the tumor more closely. He was rushed to the Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne and they told him immediately that the outcome was not going to be a positive one. With that news the whole family was crushed. Questions began to fill all of our heads. “How did this happen?” “What could I have done to prevent this?” These were all questions that we had, but couldn’t be

My maternal aunt gathered us together and we all sat on the couch. She turned to my mother and told us she had cancer. I looked at my aunt and I did not know what to say or how to respond. Three months later, my father received a phone call from his sister telling him that my pregnant cousin, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with leukemia and had to give birth to her premature baby. She and I grew up in the same house in Arizona and what hurt me the most was not being able to be with her during this difficult time. When we went to visit her in Arizona, my dad told us before entering the hospital room that he did not want us to cry in front of her. I was scared to enter. I did not know what to say to her but I knew I had to be strong. We stayed there for the holiday season but we never celebrated the holidays, that was too

When I asked him how is life now? He explained that surviving on a day-to-day basis

I remember waking up that day and that feeling in my stomach, knowing what was about to happen. Growing up I knew about my father's sickness. My family, I recall, was always supportive. No one ever thinks about how one day, everyone you’re around for years, can just vanish. I cherished my friends as I was growing up. I lived there for a majority of my life, up until fourth grade. I remember sitting at a neighbor's house and having the mother come into the room and inform me that I need to be home swiftly. As I ran home, my head was crowded with thoughts to the point where I could not even think about why I was supposed to be home quickly. That day marked the transition of what would be the biggest change in my life. As by dad became sicker,

Thanksgiving is a week away that's about the only thing on my mind, my dad's mind, my mom's mind, everyone’s mind. Plus my dad just got back home from doing five years in prison, so yea it was something to look forward to, sitting at the table as a complete family again. Anyway we had just picked my dad up from work, that night we ate steak and potatoes, my favorite! It was a school night I had just gotten my school clothes ready and was headed to take my shower. I stopped in my parent’s room, because I saw my dad up getting dressed to go out that night. We talked for a minute or two then he told me goodnight he'll be back, so I continued to do what I was doing. I really had no idea this would be the last time I saw my dad. Around 7 a.m. the

When my dad came home that evening he sat me down and asked me if I knew what cancer was. I had an idea so I just nodded my head, he went on to tried to explain to me how bad the cancer was that my mom had been diagnosed with. Seeing my dad so afraid scared me. The fear I felt then led me to realize that I needed to try and hide it because it would only hurt my dad more to see his children so upset. I did my best to help, I tucked my little sisters into bed while my mom was away at the hospital, read them stories and did the best I could at preparing snacks to comfort them. After my mom arrived home and she recovered from the surgery she started chemotherapy. The miserable treatment that attacks the cancer also makes her very ill. Every other week she was sick. Before every bad week I wanted to cry, but that wouldn’t help anyone. Lane and Kenna already were crying, if I cried it could only hurt my parents

When I turned 11-years-old my whole childhood began to change my life went from being perfect to everything but perfect. One day I came home to hear the news my father, my best friend; my hero was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. Not knowing the struggle my family was about to take on I just began to cry. I had a million things running through my head what’s going to happen? Will everything be okay? Why him? What is going to happen? With all these things rushing through my head all I could do was cry not knowing this was least worse to come.

One night in January, I couldn't sleep and it was 4am and then out of the blue I got a call from my sister.. At first all I had was questions, “What do you mean his organs are shutting down?” And then she said it-- grandpa’s dying. She called telling me that our grandpa, who was battling cancer on and off for eight years,

I did my best to be careful around him, asking if he needs help,”Do you need any help uncle Tom”,”I can get that for you uncle Tom”.Just seeing him become weaker and weaker every passing day made me wish I could somehow transfer his cancer in my own body. Being seven at the time I did not have a full understanding of how serious his condition was. The radiation from his chemotherapy made him so weak that he had trouble walking around the house without someone assisting him. Whenever I would ask him if he needed help walking he would first smile, then he would say to me “No thank you Mia, I need to do this myself”. Just watching him decline my help and try to walk on his own

My father passed away in 1991, two weeks before Christmas. I was 25 at the time but until then I had not grown up. I was still an ignorant youth that only cared about finding the next party. My role model was now gone, forcing me to reevaluate the direction my life was heading. I needed to reexamine some of the lessons he taught me through the years.

The letter was read by mom first and later she explained its significance as a whole. The letter itself stated that things were not going as my pops had planned. He felt that it was better if he left since it would be a better environment for me. From this I understood, my mom and dad used to have arguments for no reason or something very small. My pops would come in late at night and just start arguing with my mom for something useless. This often led to tension in the household, and sometimes I felt I was caught in middle. So therefore his excuse for leaving was that of trying to ease the situation between my mom and dad while still being in my life, when I needed him.

I clearly remember the day I found out about my granddad's passing. I was at school. It was a normal, joyful day. My dad was planning on picking me up, but instead my friend's mom picked me up. He would not tell me why, but I did not think much of it. I remember the car ride to my house. My friend's mom would not tell me why she was driving me home; all she told me was, "Just know, Ryan, that we will be here for you no matter

About a year after being diagnosed, his doctor told him that he was cancer free. He was so happy; his face was all smiles. I had never seen him so happy in his entire life. It was such a beautiful sight seeing my old mans face that lit up, he told everyone that he was cancer free. I was so proud of my father for being that strong, cancer couldn't even bring him down.

It was just a couple of weeks before my birthday when it all happened. My cousin, sister, and I got called out of school early, we were not sure why. I remember being excited to leave class and go home and play with my dog, Sam. By the time I got to my mom I knew something was wrong, because her eyes were puffy and red. I asked her what was wrong, she told me it was nothing. When we got to my house I noticed my grandma's car was parked outside. When I got in the house away for the January cold, I could clearly tell something was wrong. My parents told us Sam, the yellow lab that has been a part of our family since before I was born, had to be put down that morning. I then remembered how sick she was the day before. My parents said she had kidney failure and they did not want her to suffer. I was ten years old going on eleven years old so I did not completely understand why my parents did not let her come home with them. Although it was not the ideal way to say our goodbyes, we did give Sam a small "funeral" which did help