Through A Daughter's Eyes: Watching Dad's Valley of Cancer

12:37 p.m. - Dad was in Palliative at this point and not communicating, but he did say, "Let's go."

2:23 p.m.: Dad woke up from his sleep for a minute when I kissed him on the forehead and grabbed his hand. I said, "Shh, it's all right, let the angels carry you." 6:11 p.m. - Dad is agitated.

I felt prompted in church to find a quiet place and sing 'A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief' while recording it on my phone and get it to Dad, so I did exactly that. Brother and Sister Drew, Terry Gallais, and Aunt Sharon are visiting with Dad right now.

Mom and I took Dad for a drive into Lethbridge this evening and it was just the three of us, as Bobby had moved into Lethbridge while I was in Salt Lake.

While I was down in Salt Lake City for General Conference, I paid a visit to Harmony Beck and her family in West Jordan. I ended up getting a blessing from Harmony's dad and in the blessing, it said that, "Your father will soon be safely in the Lord's arms," and I had a horrible feeling that Dad was going to die soon, but he wouldn't die yet. My trip had been full of worries that Dad would die while I was away from the house, but the Lord knows better than I.

For Family Home Evening, I watched a little bit of Dancing With the Stars with Mom and Dad before they left.

We decided to go home today because Dad was so weak and Mom did not want him to die across the border, as it would have been a nightmare to get him back to Canada. We checked out and quickly made our way home, getting home in the early afternoon. I was on my way out to the car to leave when I noticed a lady who was wearing a nice skirt and shirt. I commented that she was dressed for church and it turned out she and her husband were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who were coming up from near St. George, Utah to do some trailer camping in Banff for a bit. We talked about families, I told her my dad was dying of cancer, and she was very kind about it and reminded me that I would see him again. We also talked about family history and that I had done my dad's genealogy, that I helped with proxy sealings in the Cardston Temple one day a week, and how it was rare for someone my age to enjoy genealogy and family history things. She gave me her contact info and

Dad came out of the hotel with us today and we went for a drive around Great Falls.

Mom, Dad, and I left Shelby around 10 a.m. or so after taking Dad to breakfast at the Country Skillet, which was somewhat difficult because he had trouble walking and didn't want people to help him, but I argued with the staff and made them hold the door open for him. We got to Great Falls in the afternoon and stayed in a hotel called the Crystal Inn and Suites that was on a hill across the highway from the airport and was above the city. Mom and Dad shared a room and I got my own room.

It started out as a quiet day and suddenly, Dad told Mom he wanted to go to Great Falls and told me I wasn't going. A few minutes later, however, Dad asked me if I wanted to go and I didn't have a lot of time to decide. The Spirit told me that it was right to go and I swiftly cancelled my time at the temple and felt right about going, as I felt like it would be Dad's last vacation away from home. We stopped in Shelby, Montana for the night and stayed up at this really nice Comfort Inn hotel up at the top of the hill and also went to the Country Skillet Restaurant for supper.

I got some KFC with Mom and Bobby and took it home for all of us to eat since Dad was too grouchy to go on a picnic and we had homemade potato and macaroni salad with the KFC.

Family Home Evening consisted of eating dinner and watching a couple episodes of Undercover Boss together while Dad slept.

Dad had an echo cardiogram at Chinook Cardiology and it's an ultrasound of the heart. His blood pressure is 121/81, which is really good.

I took Dad some things for the night, hugged him, and told him that I love him. Mom had called me and asked me to bring things from home and from Fas Gas for Dad and I did without complaint.

5ish p.m.: Uncle Allan came from Vauxhall to visit Dad and I haven't seen him since I was 14 and at Grandma Cameron's funeral, so it was awkward to be around him.

10:50 p.m.: Mom told me that Dad thinks he's got a week left.