Announcements
Dad told me that honest work was something to be proud of. I believed him. And around my second year of university, I made a silent promise to myself: I was going to make him proud enough that he would forget all those unpleasant comments.
Last year, Dad learned he had cancer. He continued to work as long as the doctors allowed him to, longer than they would have liked, honestly.
Some evenings, I would find him leaning against the supply cupboard, looking even more exhausted.
He would straighten up as soon as he saw me and say, “Don’t look at me like that, darling. I’m fine.”
But he wasn’t doing well, and we both knew it.
Last year, Dad was diagnosed with cancer.
Announcements
One thing kept coming up in Dad’s conversations, as he sat at the kitchen table after work: “I just have to hold out until prom. And then, until your graduation. I want to see you get dressed up and walk through that door like you’re the queen of the world, my princess.”
“You’ll see much more than that, Dad,” I always replied.
Quelques mois avant le bal, il a perdu son combat contre le cancer et est décédé avant que je puisse arriver à l’hôpital.
Je l’ai appris alors que je me tenais dans le couloir de l’école, mon sac à dos sur les épaules.
Je me souviens avoir remarqué que le linoléum ressemblait exactement à celui que papa passait à la serpillière, puis je n’ai plus grand-chose en mémoire après cela.
Quelques mois avant le bal de fin d’année, il a perdu son combat contre le cancer.
