Journeys Unexpected

Denial and Isolation Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance These are the five basic stages of grief. The five stages listed do not necessarily happen in that particular order, but most people will traverse each one. I bring this up because of my recent trip to Florida to visit my dad in the hospital. The grief I feel is at his having a terminal illness, Multiple Myeloma. There is no cure, but it can be treated. I feel the need to write my grief to help myself heal, so I hope you will bear with me. When I first heard that my dad was in the hospital, I was okay. Tabitha was getting him the medical attention he finally deserved. Something was wrong and the doctors at Bay Medical were determined to find out the root cause of everything. He had pneumonia, and was not doing great. He had multiple breaks and fractures in his spine that were discovered. He was anemic. His calcium and protein levels were high. All of these things added up to the doctors looking into Multiple Myeloma. W

I am currently four weeks into the Fall semester at Boise State University. The first two weeks were spent in Florida with my family. I wish it was to say that it was for fun... My dad went into the hospital and when things weren't looking too good, I was on the next flight out of Boise. Four plane rides later I got to Florida. We were able to surprise him though, so that was a major bonus. :) Daddy's idea: Gators (Minnie) vs Seminoles (Tabitha) with the Tater (Me) as referee! This trip was much different than the one I made there in 2006. I had never met my dad's other three kids, so that trip was more of a getting-to-know-you kind of trip, and I hadn't seen my dad since 1982 - I was only four years old so I had no memories of him, only pictures. I love this guy! The trip I made this year had lots of good points though. I got to spend more time with my sisters, and daddy called us the "Three Musketeers" because of our giggly shenanigans. :) We had