My dad passed away last Friday night at 6:30 pm. The whole family was there around him. It is hard to let go of someone that has been their your whole life... Yet, I think that we all really have felt a real sense of relief in his passing. He was ready to go, he wanted to go and leave the cancer wracked body he had. He really felt like he had lived the time that he was given and now it was his time to leave. I had one precious moment with him before he died. The Thursday night before, when I was getting ready to leave the house, I went over to say goodbye to him. He was still talking some... in small whispers. I bent over and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead and told him that I loved him. He did not have much strength, but he breathed out the words... "I love you son"... in that moment my mind flashed back to my very first memory. I don't know how young I was, I could not have been more than about 4 or so. But I remember riding on my dad's shoulders walking through a grassy green field in some magestic valley up in the high Sierras on a family camping trip... my very first memory. In that one moment I had the very first thought that I can ever remember of him and the very last thing that he ever said to me. I cried all the way home, but I will cherish those breathy little words as long as I live..... I love you dad...