The Beginning of the End.

3 minute read time.
I've decided to write about all of this. To put my thoughts down somewhere. To get them out of my head and onto a screen. Many people have told me that writing is the best form of therapy. I've always enjoyed writing, at school I would dream of being a writer, that dream didn't work out but here I am. 
My life has changed so rapidly in the last 18 months. I feel as though I've grown into the adult I should be at this age. From my mental breakdown to the realisation that my Dad wouldn't be cured of lymphoma. 
Today I laid in bed with my Dad for the first time in well over a decade. He's almost unrecognisable from the man he was back then. The chemotherapy has taken his hair, his weight and in some ways his dignity. We all thought the treatment would work, well that's what everyone is saying.  Somewhere at the back  of my mind I had a feeling it wouldn't. Of course I can't admit this and I don't think I'd even admitted it to myself whilst trying to stay positive. 
Today I felt a connection with my Dad I hadn't felt for years. When I became a teenager my Dad and I drifted apart. I spent more time with my Mum and would go to her for advice and comfort. He was always there though in the background offering support, even though often I probably threw it back in his face. Oh if I could turn the clock back and stop being such a melodramatic teen. 
Today when I cuddled up to him on his bed, which has been moved downstairs so he doesn't feel excluded from the family in his dying days, I felt my heart breaking in ways I didn't know it  could. He told me "we will get there in the end". The end for him inevitably being very soon. I guess that's his way of telling me that  I will also be okay and will survive this. When he started to cry whilst rubbing my head I could no longer put on a brave face, I cried and I felt the pain in every vein, in every cell, in every centimetre of my body. 
His body is not what it was anymore. His bones are almost exposed, his legs are weak and his feet are swollen. I guess that's all any of us are really and it's so easy to forget. Skin and bones and organs and blood. His blood is fucked. 
I know these days, weeks, however long left he has will always stay with me. I hope I never forget how I feel as the years go by without him here. I guess I am writing this down as I want to always be able to remind myself. I feel glad he is not in pain, but so sad that he must be absolutely terrified. I have no idea how you deal with knowing you are going to die. But of course we all know that. So why do we not live life with that at the forefront of our minds? I feel that there will be my life before this, and my life after it. This is the most life changing experience I have encountered on my journey so far. This will change who I am, how I see the world and how I progress with my life from now on. I hope I make him proud. I hope that I can make myself proud. He should know that he is the kindest, most generous and loving man I have ever known. And ever will know. I am proud to be able to say that my Dad has always loved me. I have been one of the lucky ones. 
Anonymous