Brooks and Company 4th Qtr 2016 4th Qtr 2016 | Page 12

the proud man he was, still didn’t give up.
He kept up the fight and continued his
chemo treatments locally. He’s my hero!
My dad was 62 years old. Way too young to
die. He got to see his oldest granddaughter
get married in October before he passed but
he missed the birth of her beautiful daughter
this year. Now my beautiful granddaughter
Sadie will never get to know the amazing
man that was her grandfather. My future
grandsons will never get the lessons he had
to teach. Thankfully I remarried a wonderful
man in 2009 whom my dad loved dearly
(and he loved my dad). Now the
responsibility will be on my husband to
teach the grandchildren all the amazing
things that my dad taught him. My husband
would be the first to tell you that nothing
compares to learning it first hand from my
dad though! I know my husband will do his
best!
After losing daddy, I set into a pretty bad
depression (even more so than while he was
sick). It’s been a fight to try and find a new
normal. I miss him daily. I’ve had to search
for a lesson to take from all of this, after all
if not, the loss of my dad just causes anger.
I believe that the lessons to be learned here
are multiple, so here goes my attempt to
honor my father.
Please take the time to smell the roses, do
things that you enjoy, life is short and
you may not be able to enjoy tomorrow in
the same way as today. Please go for yearly
checkups, early detection can make all the
difference in the world. My dad may had
been saved to see his beautiful Sadie had we

gotten him treatment earlier. Find someone
to buddy up with to encourage each other to
get these checkups done. Everyone needs
encouragement and reminders. Keep follow
up appointments if you are referred for
further testing. One checkup does not make
a healthy long life. Pay attention to your
body, aches and pains are your body’s way
of making you aware and saying “I need
attention”. Spend time with your loved ones
as much as possible as tomorrow may not
come. Walk away from the leaches and
users in your life, your life is to short
to share with them.
I put estate planning on the back burner for
my dad because actually doing it would
mean I was admitting the end was near.
Please, please do your estate planning while
you are healthy. It’s never pleasant but
even worse when you’re nearing the end of
life. Many of my dad’s wishes will never
come to be, because it was difficult to deal
with while dealing with the illness. When
someone you know has a loss, know your
role, be there for them. My father’s family
fell apart, they were too concerned with
what they would get of his belongings when
they should have been concerned with
carrying on what was in his heart. He wasn’t
a man of many means. He lived in a shed
behind my grandfather’s house. He passed
with more debt than assets (due to physician
and hospital bills). Personal belongings and
financial security didn’t matter much to him.
He’d rather give to someone else than to feel
secure himself. The way he lived his life
should be an example to all. You can’t take
personal possessions with you when you’re
gone but you do leave the memories and the
legacy for those whom you’ve left on earth.