Peace Be With You- Twila Demongeot

Dad was always so busy in the spring, and in high demand. His blazer and trailer were always seen all over town making deliveries and repairing mowers. If you wanted to see him, he was always in the garage, with a stool waiting, and he loved the company. Some of our best conversations were in that garage. When I go there now, I can’t stand the loneliness. All his tools are waiting. It has been 6 years now, but one thing I know is that my tears are not because Dad died, but because I miss him. He is much better off now, I know…because Dad told me.

Dad’s life changed on February 20, 1992, my 30th birthday. He was diagnosed with cancer in the left kidney, surrounded by a football size mass. A spot on his lung was also removed, but not believed to be cancer. He recovered from the surgery fine, and lived life to the fullest for the next 6 months. But, the cancer returned. This time it was throughout his bone structure. The outlook was not good for a man who already had gone through so much. It would be a long and painful battle, but his will, was to just see one more Christmas.

I was the one that had to tell him that he was going to have to have radiation. We were alone and he sat in his chair and cried. I cried too, knowing I was losing him. He knew he just couldn’t beat this one. During his surgery in February, he said he had seen his father and brother who had died years before. They waved for him to go back, but he knew they would be waiting for him…and he missed them so much and that it would be so hard to leave us behind. I made all the promises to him, that I’d reach over mom and take care of everything. But then, I made him promise me, that if there was some way to let me know that he was all right after he died, that he had better do it. I’m so thankful to God for letting us talk like we did.

© "Times of India" (dated December 12, 2004). Reprinted with permission.

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