Being a single mother at 25 and returning to school was not really where I would have pictured my sister. Unfortunately, when her husband passed away a few years ago, she found herself being flung from married housewife to working single mom in an instant. Although, her husband did hold down a good job, they didn't quite plan for him to get ill and pass away at such a young age. I really thought that they would live well into their 80's (at least) and travel to exotic lands.
Quite honestly, I don't think that it was even remotely possible to see this one coming. One day her husband was fine, and the next day, he was very ill. At first we thought that he had a virus or something. He got sick and was vomiting, so much so that within a day or two he was unable to keep anything down. He had no history of anything being wrong, and quite honestly rarely went to doctors or even took an aspirin. He exercised and ate right. We were amazed when we took him to the hospital thinking he had the flu, and found out instead that he had testicular cancer. Could this actually be happening? Well, he was only 32 years old and in seemingly excellent health. We were told that he had testicular cancer and that it was already in an advanced stage. He went from a 217lb man to just a mere skeleton in less than a week. His cheeks were all hollowed out, and he couldn't even speak because his throat was so soar from vomiting. It was the saddest sight. She couldn't even bring the boys to see him; she didn't want them to remember their daddy like that. They were only 8 months old and 3 years old. They cried and said their goodbyes. It nearly killed me to see such a strong man so weak and frail. His family and friends came from far and wide to say their goodbyes, and only hours after the last friend arrived, he was gone. He waited until we all went back to the house to go to church on Sunday morning, and he made the transition from earthly being to spirit.
My sister desperately misses him and wishes that he was still here. Everyday, I see my nephews and realize that I am perhaps the only father figure that they have. I am trying to fill that role for them, but it is difficult to say the least. I try to help my sister out as much as I can, and do the "manly" things around the house. I do some small home repairs and try to keep her focused on the boys and life.
I never saw my sis as a hero, but she has really gotten her life together for the sake of her boys. In the face of adversity, she has shown an incredible strength, that quite honestly, I am not sure I would have had, had the situation been mine instead of hers to deal with.
This situation has taught me that life is to short and expect the unexpected. Even when you think that you have your life where you want it, you never know what lies ahead.
We just have to take the twists in the path of life as they come.