When I was five years old something tragic happened to my family. My dad was getting very sick and we knew something was wrong. It was very unexpected and shocked us all. It was the worst thing that could happen to our side of the family. We found out that my dad was diagnosed with cancer. That is when my tragic journey began.

My parents tried to hide it from my brother and I for as long as they could. My mother could not keep it from us any longer. One day they sat us down and my mom said, “Daddy is very sick so we have to go stay in a hospital so daddy can get better. Daddy has a sickness called cancer.” My brother and I did not know what to do. I was so scared; I did not want him to die. I was only five and that is not easy to understand that your daddy was very sick and was going to be gone at the hospital for a long time. My Aunt Sally took care of my brother and I until my mom’s parents came down to take care of us. Little did we know another tragic problem was about to occur.

My dad had been in the hospital for five days now. It was hard not to be able to see him, but my aunt still had us with her, so she tried to get our mind off of worrying ourselves sick over our dad. That was hard on her because her brother is in the hospital possibly dying of cancer. On the fifth my grandpa (his dad) is sent to the same hospital as my dad in St. Louis, MO for a liver transplant. My family was very scared at that point. I had to deal with my dad and grandpa possibly dying at a young age. I would worry about them every night, thinking I am going to wake up and I will not have a daddy or grandpa, or both. The feeling was the worst I have ever felt and it was not fun. I did not know what to do with the emotions I was going through. I was not old or mature enough to know how to handle the emotions. At this point my aunt was in St. Louis with them and my mom’s parents were watching my brother and I.

It was the first time the hospital had a father and son at the same time. It made the newspaper. My dad was on one side of the building and my grandpa was on the complete opposite side. You had to walk three quarters of a mile to get from one room to the other from what they told me.

One day the phone rang and my grandma called my brother into the room. She then called me in after. My grandma handed me the phone and said it was my dad. My dad told me he really misses me and loves me. Then he told me something that changed the whole phone call from happy to sad. He said, “Baby, I lost all my hair.” I dropped the phone and went running to my room crying. That was when it really hit me, my daddy was very, very sick. I was scared; I did not want him to die. I missed him so much. The doctors and my parents would not let my brother and I go see him. My parents did not want us to see how sick he looked. The doctors did not want us to come because of germs. Finally, they let my brother and I come see out father. It has been a month at this point that I have not seen my parents.

I got to see him once out of that whole time they were in there. The day we drove to St. Louis I was excited. I wanted to see him so badly! We arrived at the hospital, and then I got scared what I was about to see. As soon as I walked in his room I ran and gave him a hug. He looked sick and had no hair, but I knew him seeing my brother and I made him feel so much better. We went on a walk and everyone was starring at him. It made me sad and mad; I knew he did not want them looking at him with disgust. We spent the whole day together, but I had to go home. I did not want to leave; I wanted to stay there with him. We said our goodbyes and left. The only thing in my head the whole ride home back from St. Louis my dad.

My grandma tells my brother and I that my dad gets to come home. He beat cancer. He beat it! Nothing can explain how I felt when the news was given to my brother and I. I was still going to have a daddy. My parents come home. You could tell they were happy to be home. They got to be with my brother and I again. My dad looked so much better, he was starting to look like himself again. My grandpa also survived getting his liver and transplanted in him perfectly. He too got to come home. The relief we all felt that they came home safe, healthy, and alive. My parents were acting weird and I did not know why? They both sat my brother and I down and told us that the cancer could come back again. I was shocked.

My dad has been cancer free since the day of his transplant. I still have never over came that tragic part of my life. Only because he still has a chance of the cancer coming back. When he gets sick I get worried, because it can possibly be the cancer. Now that I am older I cannot stand hospitals because my dad was once there, fighting for his life. My dad and I still talk about that time in our lives that we worried about my dad possibly losing his life. He tells me all the time the only reason he beat cancer was because of my brother and I. He thought about us the whole time he was fighting cancer, he knew and wanted to come home to us. My dad and I are closer than ever. I do not know what I would do without him, thinking what I would be like without my dad. I would not be the person I am today if my dad had died. My dad is my hero, my inspiration, and my role model. He has taught me to never give up because if he gave up he would not be here today. I can think God for him being alive and bringing him home to my brother and I.