My Grandpa's original diagnosis for lung cancer was back in 2012. After fighting on and off, we received his final diagnosis of cancer around Memorial Day in 2017. He passed away in October of 2017. My grandpa and I always shared one huge thing in common - the love and passion we had for Dodgers baseball. I started cheering for the Dodgers at a young age because of the passion my grandpa had for them. The last memory I have with my grandpa is watching Justin Turner hit a walk off game winning homerun in Game 2 of the 2017 NLCS against the Chicago Cubs. It is a memory I will take with me and remember for the rest of my life.
My grandpa having lung cancer was definitely hard on my family and myself. There were good days, and there were bad days. But we knew everyday we had with him we would cherish and never take the time for granted. If there was any silver lining, it definitely brought our family even closer together than it already was. After the diagnosis in May, we knew the time was limited. But he never stopped fighting. I recall a conversation I had with him in July - he said his goal was to watch my cousins Tanner and Carson graduate from high school. Then, after that, he was going to watch my cousin Karissa graduate from high school. Tanner and Carson will graduate this May, and even though he won't see it in person, we all know he will be watching with us. We will all miss his sense of humor, and his love he had for all of us.
"When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and the manner in which you live." - Stuart Scott
We miss you Grandpa, and we love you.
