Today I Walk

Today is our school's annual Memory/Survivor walk. It began as a way for our students to give back to the community that supports them. It began in a year when several in our school community had been diagnosed with a form of cancer. It began a few years after my dad lost his battle with throat cancer.

Today, I walk for him. Oh, there are others, but it is always my dad I think of during this walk. I think about what he is missing out on. How proud he would be of my two sons.  How he would chuckle over the antics of his great grandkids. How much he would enjoy the lake.

I think about the things he has missed in the last year. Both boys got married and became fathers. He would truly love the women they chose to spend their lives with. The get-togethers at our house and the chaos that ensues--he would love that. He would tease the kids about the pink elephants in The Wizard of Oz and baffle them with "Two Little Blackbirds". With a twinkle in his eye, he'd tell them that Grandma Pat was the Wicked Witch of the West. He'd play catch with them and go for walks. I'm sure he would teach them how to make french toast and keep the "secret ingredient" a  secret.  And one more time he would make sausage patties under his armpit.

He misses spending his "golden years" with my mom, a cancer survivor herself. He'd golf with Greg and I. He'd come up during the winter and cheer on the Hawkeyes. He'd love Chloe and her silliness.

So today, I walk for all who have been affected. But it's my dad I'll remember.