#i weep for epcot now

[slynapza]

A man full of life, who spent time with his family and loved to eat Chip’s Ahoy cookies, turned into a man who could could no longer walk or talk without bringing intense pain doing the simplest things. Never understanding why he couldn’t do everything, and looking down at a young girl with blonde hair, blue eyes that would weep everytime this man was in pain. The little girl was me, and that man is my father. Cancer not only affected my father’s life, but also my life and the memories I have of him as well.

He had gray, but once brown hair and hazel colored eyes that made the room light up every time this man came in. Being co-captain of his former basketball team, he was 6 foot and four inches tall. His outfit usually contained a loosely fitted t-shirt of multiple colors ranging from black to white. Blue jeans were his favorite style of pants, and were most comfortable to him. His signature mustache covered the top of his lips that he used to speak what was going on in his unique mind. Wire-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose as he looked around and cracked jokes in his truck as he did his daily job delivering light bulbs. This man was my father, his name is Roger Traczyk. My father had a heart of gold, and was powerful with his smile. He had a laughter that would influence you to laugh even if it wasn’t the best timing. He was a Christian and strongly believed in God and the Holy palace above us. He was a man that loved his children, and his beautiful wife of thirty-five years. You could talk about the strangest topics and he would always have something to say. My father was special, and nobody could ever compare to him.

Of course, the memories of my father and I are so heart-touching due to his love and compassion for me. We went to baseball games, wearing blue and yellow to support our home baseball team, the Rays. He loved baseball but not more than working in his blooming and colorful gardens. He would willingly work all day in the sizzling heat for his bushes of roses and daisies. Traveling to his hometown and him showing me where he went to school and his favorite restaurants, I shall never forget. The funniest memory with my father was when we went to the most magical place on earth, Disney! We decided to go to Epcot, which is one of the four parks in Disney World. This trip was for his birthday and I was still young and thought everything had to be my way. Yes, I was stubborn but Roger didn’t mind that. We did everything I wanted to do and I got to look for evil villains around the parks, the “villains” were actually a creative imagination that I came up with and he played along. I’m pretty sure everyone thought we were absolutely insane but we didn’t care, we had fun just like how we always did.

Even though life with my father had been full of happiness, it started to change before my eyes. My father experienced a lot of excruciating pain in his lungs and decided to go to the doctor to see what was going on. The doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia and prescribed medications that would help. Every day, it felt like he was getting worse and it was so painful for the whole family to watch. One day my father couldn’t take the pain he was experiencing and went to the emergency room to figure out what was really wrong with him. Instantly, the doctors told us that he definitely doesn’t have pneumonia, instead, he has stage four lung cancer. From that moment, my family’s lives were messed up and tough to deal with. My mother had to take care of him every day, and made sure he had the strength to fight against the horrendous cancer that eventually took over his entire body. We never knew when his last day would be, and that personally killed me more and more each day. We never wanted my father to leave, but we knew it would be soon

All of the sudden, December eighteenth of twenty-thirteen came around. It was the day my father had died, and a hole in my red, beating heart formed. I wasn’t there for his last day, I had gone to a Jingle Ball christmas concert. I was having a great time, listening to the music blasting outside of Amalie Arena, when my mother got the call from her sister. My mother had to drop me off with my friend because she was rushing home, hoping the handsome man that she shared a life with, would still be alive when she arrived back at the house. I thought he was going to spend his restless night at the hospital, turns out I was wrong. When I arrived home, my entire family was drenched in waterfalling tears. I was in confusion and had no sense of what could be going on. I went to my bedroom to change and my mother, with my brother, came in and told the heart-breaking news. My father, of thirteen years, had died that night. I doubted the statement as soon as my mother said it. Seeing my brother cry, and holding on to me woke me up and made me realize it was true. I grieved in pain and still to this day, I grieve silently when I hear someone talk about cancer. When I see the number “18”, my heart starts to break down in pain. I think of him nonstop, and I tribute every single thing I do towards him.

Cancer can be a hell of a sickness and unfortunately, some cannot escape the battle that cancer provides. My father will forever be someone I can look up to, and smile with even though he is in a different place. The memories I have of my father have grown more meaningful and I hold them close to my heart. And I have a new meaning of life, and that is to be the reason that my father looks down and has a face of pride. I hope right now, he is clapping loudly for me as I finally get to write in his honor again.