My dad is dying. He has been diagnosed with cancer for the third time, and it’s metastasized through his body. The doctors don’t know how much longer he has, probably 6-9 months. We’re going home to see him in a few weeks. I’m a little bit numb. I went through the whole range of emotions the last time that he was diagnosed, thinking that that was the end, but to hear it and have it be so final, and so immediate… I feel terrible, there’s a knot in my stomach that won’t go away.

I have been trying to get him to tell me the story of his life, learn all there is about him, who he was, who he is, and all the things that have gone before he got married at age 40. He’s 70 now, and has struggled pretty hard the last few years against cancer, retirement, boredom, health issues…

And I still don’t really know him.

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