If you have been following this project since the beginning, you would have noticed that I have not been as active maintaining this blog in the last year as I was in at the start. Apologies for that.
In October of 2015 my father was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer and at that time was given 3-6 months to live as it had already spread to his kidneys, lungs, bladder and liver. They performed a colostomy at that time. Over the last year I travelled back and forth to Northern Ontario countless times to be with him. He was in and out of the hospital and his overall health seemed to go up and down. At first he responded well to the radiation treatments, and it looked like he might be making improvements, but then that changed and they had to stop. Every time I went, I could see his decline and in the end we were just waiting for that final call.
I was lucky enough to be able to go and spend a week with him in August. He required 24 hour care by that point and I am honoured that I was able to be there for him, even though it was only for a week. My younger sister spent 3 months as the primary caregiver and by doing so allowed him to stay in his home as long as possible, which was his wish.
My father always dreamed about sailing off to the South Pacific. As he grew older and his dream grew farther away, he became negative about the concept in general, saying things like, the beaches are all ruined with garbage and the ocean is all polluted, and it just isn’t the same anymore. I believe this was simply his way of dealing with never having achieved his dream. One of the last conversations I had with him while I was there in the middle of the night, he asked me what it was really like out there. I told him how incredible it is to be sailing through the night with dolphins playing at the bow, and luminescent creatures rising up from the deep, and the thrill and fear of surfing down monstrous waves. These were my experiences and I was able to share them with him when he needed them the most and I pray that he was able to come to peace with it, and that he was able to dream again.
My father passed away November 11th, 2016 at approximately 11pm at night. He fought an incredible battle, but in the end cancer took his life at 77 years of age.
I miss him incredibly,
