Posted by
AmeriDan on Thursday, November 30, 2006 1:15:29 PM
Regular reader, BlogBrother, and Blogger extraordinare MadelinesDad
would like to inform residents of certain Florida and Texas neighborhoods;
that the man fishing in their cul-de-sac many years ago, was not nuts. He
was a fly-fisher. A special breed, even among fishermen. A fly-fisher would
no more go to the river without having perfected his "cast", then I would
walk into the local grocery store without my pants on. It is something that
is not done. That fly-fisher was MadelinesDad's Father. AmeriH.P.Jr.
The Lord called him home on November 12, 1999.
H.P. lived an amazing life. He played basketball in both high school and
college. Managed the Saks Fifth Avenue in Houston, Tx. and was a
Vice-President for Neiman Marcus in Florida. Need some new cabinets
for the kitchen? H.P. could head out to his shop and make some for you,
or anything else you needed. I didn't have the honor or pleasure to know
H.P., but I'll go out on a limb and guess that some of the best times in his
life were- as an older man, running rings around his two strong boys on
the basketball court.
AmeriH.P. retired to a ranch in the Texas hill country. A wonderful ending
to an amazing life story. I wish I could tell you that he lived happliy ever
after, but I can't. The Stock Market Crash of 1989 wiped out his
investments. He was forced to return to work. After so many years out of
the job market, there were no more V.P. slots open to him. H.P. was
making it though. It takes more than losing your life savings to keep a
good man down, and he was a good man.
When you think it can't get any worse, it can. One day at work, H.P. noticed
that his glands were swollen and he was very fatigued. After many
doctors visits and blood test- with the long scary wait for results- he
was diagnosed to have Leukemia.
So a man that, by all rights, should be spending his time back in the hill
country of Texas on his ranch. Enjoying the fruits of his life long labor,
started chemo therapy. Chemo is a nasty, yet vital treatment for cancer.
That's what Leukemia and Lymphoma are. Cancer. Chemo attacks and
kills cancerous cells in the body. It also kills any other cells it happens to
come across. Complete loss of hair and unheathy weight loss are almost a
given. The more cancer, the more chemo, and the more loss. Sometimes
surgery or a bone marrow transplant can stop the spread of these
cancerous cells, but it's never even close to a sure thing.
The Luekemia and Lymphoma Society are trying to stop this horrible
disease- but they need your help.
H.P. never made it back to his ranch. He survived the crucial 100 days after
a bone marrow transplant and then took a turn for the worse. He was
surrounded by his Family when he died.
MadelinesDad lives for his wife and daughter, who H.P. never got the joy
of knowing, But he would gladly give away anything else in his life for a
few hours on the water once more with H.P. I'm sure he would even
settle for fishing in the cul-de-sac. So when you see a late model Chevy
pick-up heading to the river for some fish. Give a thought to AmeriH.P.
-AmeriDan (11/30/06 1:50pm)