My Story

I feel like I can't rightfully continue this project until I've shared with you all my story. So here it is.

(Lots of Mormon words in here. I've tried to put links to help those of you who don't know what everything means, but talk to me if you have any questions!)

These are my parents at their wedding. Total cuties, right?

Like you already know (whether from my previous post or from life), my dad was diagnosed with stage four colorectal cancer in the summer of 2009, right before I started my freshman year of high school. For those of you who don't know very much about medicine, cancer found at stage four has been caught very late. From the diagnosis, we knew the prognosis: my dad was going to die.

The next two and half years led to frequent trips to the hospital. I often found myself driving from school to dance practice to Providence Saint Peter Hospital and riding the elevator up to the cancer floor. I knew the nurses by name, but had difficulty remember which doctor did what.

And now for the part that most of you don't know: on December 18, 2011, my dad died. I didn't know people didn't know about this part of my life until graduation, but it made sense. I had never been public about it. I never posted any Facebook statuses saying "Miss you, Dad." And so now I'm coming clean.

Speaking of "clean", my dad's battle and passing allowed me to use the Atonement more than I ever had before. Jesus Christ did not suffer only for our sins, but also for any negative feelings or hardships or temptations we've ever had.

My dad and I always had trouble getting along; we both had very headstrong personalities. My last two and a half years with him found me constantly asking my Heavenly Father for help in repairing our relationship. I know this helped to develop a connection between both my physical father and my spirit Father and me.

On the night of his death, I was too tired to go out to the living room to be with him in his final moments. For a long time, I had trouble forgiving myself for this. This turned out to be another opportunity to use the Atonement to forgive myself.

My dad also wasn't a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time of his death. My mom, brother, and I are now preparing to enter the temple to do his work.

As you can probably tell from this very long post, my way of coping with the loss of my father was through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through my project, I want to examine how others have dealt with the hardships they have faced within their families and help more people have hope.

Some super cute pictures of my family: