Less than a week before passing away enjoying the view at the end of Seaward.
On the left, this is the final picture I took two days before passing.
Below, exactly one week before, getting his final haircut and grooming from Debbie.
Initially, it was hard for him to shave off what remained of his head, but to be honest, he rocked a bald head. Staci Brown commented that he looked totally badass! He loved that.
My dad’s final night out for music turned out to be for one of his favorite musicians here in town, Jimmy Calire, who happened to be playing with the Gypsy Blues Band at the harbor. It was about two weeks before he passed.
He had a particularly rough day, and made several phone calls to family members to say goodbye, but after talking to them and feeling their love, he felt uplifted. I was over at Maggie’s having dinner when he called. I was surprised because at lunch he wasn’t feeling well at all. He sounded so good! So I told him Jimmy was playing and asked if he wanted to go and he immediately said yes! It was rough getting him to and from the venue, but once inside he had a great time. He even ate a quesadilla (had no appetite earlier) and had a cold beer. Way to go Dad!
I can’t say enough about the team at UCLA. They took such great care of my dad, he was truly sad to end his treatment there because of the love and care they provided for him. The photo below was just a few weeks before his passing.
Sydney Rose was home for a month spending as much time as she could with her Grandpa in January. One of their stops was visiting Kari and the crew at Pierpont Elementary School in January.
My dad volunteered at Pierpont when Sydney was in kindergarten, but they loved him so much they invited him back year after year to help out with the rugrats. I have many mementos he kept, many of which he cherished such as his Pierpont shirt which he practically wore down to nothing (he’s actually wearing it in the photo), and all the gifts the kids made for him over the years.
Below on the left, one of his first chemo sessions. On the right sporting a beanie donated to the oncology center for patients losing their hair.
Last summer, one of the hardest things for my dad to do was to finally give up the hair. After losing so much due to the chemo treatments, we asked a dear hairdresser friend of ours, Sally, to come over and do the honors. She was so gentle and kind and funny sharing her own stories of losing her hair when she dealt with her own cancer years ago.
