A Dying Man

Something that I recently have lived through.

Have you ever watched a man die?

I have.

It was not quick nor was it very exciting.

It was painful and slow.

No time lapse to dull the tears.

No sad music to accompany the scenes as they played out.

Just one man.

When he was first diagnosed with lung cancer it was a punch to the stomach.

I felt my own breath leave my body as his daughters collapsed and his wife became still.

Three years.

I watched my best friend since childhood battle her fathers cancer and push away the feelings of adolescents.

She lost her high school years to doctor visits and medications.

He pushed on and on.

Suddenly in the mid of senior year...

His death sentience was signed.

Her heart was broken.

The year would go on and he would slowly fall appart.

It started as it had the first year.

No hair.

Tired.

Then he suddenly he couldn't work.

Next he was on oxygen.

Suddenly he was chair bound.

The man who had woken us up in the mornings of our childhood was lost in his own mind. 

He couldn't remember anymore.

He couldn't hold on to anything.

Not his mind. 

He was gone.

Only to remembered in our minds as the man who made mickey mouse pancakes.

As i descend into a mess of tears at mercy of my memories,

he is blown into the wind.

I watched a man go mad.

I watched a man lose himself.

I watched a man fall prey to time.

I watched a sixteen year old get a tattoo with a silver ribbon.

I watched a high school senior become a nurse.

I watched a mother become a widow.

I watched a man die.

Don,

Thank you for always being a second father to me.

You always made me laugh and were a silent force of compassion, love, kindness, and strength.

You have always been a rock in your daughters lives.

You will be missed.

RIP

Author's Note

Im not really looking to critique. This is more of a journal type thing. Don M died July 7th 2013. He was a father to me and will be missed by all of his daughters.
Watching his progression to death in the last for years had been one of the hardest things in my life. His two daughters are some of the strongest high schoolers I know.

Reviews

[Jon Roggie]

This hurt. Brings back the image of my uncle asking to help him.

[Toribird]

To be honest sometimes it hurts me to read this over again as well. I'm so sorry to have caused you pain and I hope that those in your life who were suffering have finally found some peace and that you have gotten away from the smell of thousands upon thousands of flowers. This writing was my only way to deal with my own emotions while keeping face and giving hope to my best friend.