Dear Dad,

Seeing you lay in the hospital bed was the hardest thing in the world. My whole life, I have seen you as this big, strong man that nothing could stop. But to see your 6’3’’, 270 lbs. frame lay in a bed with pain medication, IV tubes and an oxygen tank pump into your body is something I never want to see again. The day I heard mom say, “I don’t think he is going to make it,” was the worst day in my life. Then, later that day I had to hear you say, “Sometimes I just feel like giving up. It’s hard to keep fighting.” I thought you were so selfish to say something like that. But maybe I was the selfish one because I wanted you to fight through it.

Now you are home with us and nobody would have ever known you were in the hospital. I think after this whole experience, I still take you for granted. And I am sorry for that; it makes me feel like a bad son sometimes.

Love,

Your middle child, age 18