On August 11 2019 my dad Leonard passed away from Leukemia, he was only 56.
Leonard was a very selfless man, he was always there for anyone who needed help of any kind, he was so caring and hard working. Growing up we weren't rich but Leonard always did everything he could for our family, he would put his own needs on hold, doing whatever it took to give me a great life growing up. I am 24 years old now, and I wish more than ever I could give some of that selfless-ness back to him. A favorite memory of mine is our tradition of going to local car shows, I started going with him when I was around 7, and to this day I still go to them to keep our tradition alive.
Leonard's diagnosis all happened so quickly, from the tests and scans, it felt surreal. He got only maybe a couple rounds of chemo done and wasn't given much time for things to get better as he contracted pneumonia and his kidneys started shutting down while in the hospital, he also suffered from several 'mini strokes' as the doctors described it. He fought so hard and was so incredibly strong throughout it all, it pains me greatly to this day reminiscing on certain memories being at RUH though I am forever proud of how brave he was.
Which is why I will be taking part in my second Light the Night walk. My first was in 2019 the same year he passed and it was a beautiful yet heart wrenching experience, to be surrounded by others who have lost loved ones to blood cancers, and seeing the survivors.
