On October 19, 2012, my father succumbed to liver cancer after fighting for three years. The last nine days of his life he spent unconscious and unresponsive. The only time he made a sound was when he was touched. Even holding his hand caused him pain. The cancer had traveled to every single part of his body.

Before he got sick he loved riding his motorcycle all over Texas and across the U.S. He planned for his retirement by getting a new Harley-Davidson Road King and a RV trailer so he could travel further. He specifically picked out this trailer because the back would lower like a drawbridge and he could load up his motorcycle and use his brand new Ford F-150 to haul everything around.

His retirement dream never came to fruition because of cancer.

According to the American Cancer Society, this year alone more than 28,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with primary liver cancer and bile duct cancers and more than 20,000 people in the U.S. will die from this cancer.

His death is still not real to me but I will spend the rest of my life remembering the time I spent with him.