As we honor the veterans of our family this year, we must do so with one less. Losing my father has made for a difficult year and some unpleasant tensions within part of the family he left behind. By the grace of God, he did not witness these problems, for he left this world with his belief in tact, that "his family" pulls together in times of crisis. Unknowingly, cancer had been spreading in Dad's brain, while the chemo treatments for his thyroid cancer were showing improvement. In four short months, when things appeared to be on the up side, he suddenly became time disoriented. With further tests, his physician told me that the cancer was in the membrane that held the fluid where all our memories are...six days after that visit, he was pronounced terminal and passed a few weeks later. Dad didn't always know what was going on in the "present time", but for the most part, he recognized his family until the end. I wasn't able to be there at the moment of his passing...but five weeks prior, I had taken family medical leave from work. For three weeks I was able to care for him in his home and for one week while he stayed at my aunts so Hospice could began preparations for his last days. As my time off ended, I had to return to work and leave Dad, but I knew he was in good hands with Hospice and with his sister and brothers and my cousins...but these would be his last days. I am thankful his family was given this time to be with him and to say good-bye. Grief effects each one of us differently...for me as a Christian, there was both sadness and joy. Sadness, because I could no longer share my life with my Dad, yet joy because he was now in peaceful rest...nothing of this world would be of any consequence to him again...no pain, no grief, no worry...asleep in Christ Jesus. Since grief can be such a burden, I must for the love of family, put their unkindness behind me and pray that they can reconcile themselves with our loss. Through Dad's brief, yet fatal illness, he was blessed not only with the love of family, but with the love of friends and those of his spiritual family. He was given the opportunity to receive some of what he had always given to others...care and concern for the welfare of a cherished friend.