Father’s Day

June 15, 2005 · Comments

photo collage of my dadThis is a tough holiday for me. Of course, [Eric](http://www.9to5andotherwise.com) gets due attention, but it also makes me miss my father terribly.

I have been working with a wonderful new colon cancer advocacy organization called the [Colorectal Cancer Coalition](http://www.c-three.org), or “C3″ for short. This organization’s entire focus is to eliminate the pain and death caused by colorectal cancer. It’s a 3-fold attack… push research for better screening methods and treatment options (the disease is still classified as “incurable”), push policy to get legislation to force insurance companies to pay for screening, push awareness so people know that colorectal cancer **if caught early** is beatable. My father died a stupid death, and nothing pisses me off more than stupidity.

Each month on our website and through marketing materials we’ve been highlighting different personal stories as part of an “ask” to raise awareness and support for the organization. This month, in honor of Father’s Day, the story on the site is close to my heart…my dad. My mother wrote the text. The section [starts here](http://www.c-three.org/fathers/) and my dad’s story is [on this page](http://www.c-three.org/fathers/shelly.htm).

Because of this stupid disease, this is my mother’s memory of going to the hospital to meet Emily for the first time in July 1998:

>One memory I have, that still pains me, was a day that should have been a jubilant celebration for us. We were driving to the hospital for the birth of our second granddaughter. I was driving and I heard a sniffle from his side of the car and turned my head to look at him. This man I loved, this man who had given me the gift of our daughter. Tears were streaming down his cheeks. “Tears of joy?” I asked eager to get to the hospital to see our daughter and the new baby. “Tears of sorrow”, he replied. “Another grandchild that I’ll never see grow up.” This is a picture I’ll have in my mind forever. Shelly died on February 10, 1999, eight months after the diagnosis.

Please, if you can, take a moment to [read about C3](http://www.c-three.org), schedule an appointment for a colonoscopy and make sure everyone you know over the age of 45-50 has done so, too. If you’d like to support C3’s efforts, [here's the direct link](http://www.kintera.org/site/lookup.asp?c=cgKJLROyEpH&b=736863) to our secure donation page.

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