So here we go again. For this part I am 16. The day after my birthday I get my drivers license. It was my ticket to freedom from my stepmother. My dad had another surprise for me, he was buying me a car. It came with lots of rules but I got a 3 year old Toyota Camry. I was in heaven but I was sad too! At the time my dad drove a 13 year old Oldsmobile, yet he had bought me a nice car. He was my everything and I lived for my dad.

I still had the same boyfriend and now that I had a car there were new rules. I couldn't be out with him past 10 and we had to be with friends. I was pretty happy and did not mind the rules.

On Halloween of that same year, I dressed up as a Jeanie and headed out to a party. It was a Saturday night and I thought I looked cute. My dad had a cold and was not himself. I should have known something was up because he let me go out as a jeanie, showing my belly. That was a no-no usually.

I had a great night and on Sunday I went out with Friends. Monday I went to school as usual but when I got home my dad's car was parked very weird in the driveway. I went in and my step mom told me that my dad was not feeling well and had driven himself to the doctor. I rushed to him on the back porch and he looked so tired. He said he was worried and he did not want to get near me. I couldn't understand. I talked to my mom and she said that the doctor had done some preliminary tests and thought there was something wrong with his blood or immune system. He had recommended that my dad eat beef or liver but my dad had not stopped at the store because he didn't think he could afford it. I went to the store that night and spent my gas money on buying him a steak. He ate it but still seem tired. I tried being affectionate and he would not have it. He later explained that the doctor thought he had AIDS. He was so different and sad, I could not believe this was my father.

The next day when I got home from school, my dad was visibly upset. He was feeling worse and was now having trouble breathing. He had an appointment with a specialist the next day but he didn't think he could drive. He had trouble driving himself to the doctor the day before. I told him I would take him.

We went to see the specialist the next day. My dad walked in full of life. It was the last time he would see the outdoors, the last time I would spend with him outside of a hospital. I wish I had known that then. I walked into the appointment with my dad and step mom and I went back with them. The doctor was shocked. He had the results of his tests and it turned out my dad had acute leukemia and a double pneumonia. The first doctor had been completely wrong. He went straight from the specialist to the hospital.

The first few days in the hospital, my dad was himself but within a week he was very week. We had to give him platelets which gave him energy again. It was great to see him up. During the time he was in the hospital, I was so different. I didn't want to go to school and I often skipped and hung out with my boyfriend until I could go to the hospital and pretend I had been to school all day. The day they gave him the platelets, my dad spoke again. He told me to be careful with money. He said I was on his bank accounts and that I should take money out just in case anything happened to him. The next day I took the money out, he had a little over a thousand dollars in savings. I was terrified.

When I saw him again I told him he had to make it that I was only 16 and he was all I had. I thought he was sleeping but one tear came down his cheak. We authorized platelets again and het got better again. The doctor explained that we had to make a decision on what to do because the platelets were expensive and only seemed to do well for a couple of days. He thought my stepmom should think about what to do, if he lived his quality of life would not be as good. She made the decision to not do any more treatments.

On November 20th, I walked in and all of the nurses were around his bed, there was a priest and my step mom. The nurse holding his hand said, he's been waiting for you. I looked and noticed that his heart rate was 68, a lot lower than it had been. I thought this was a good thing because it had been so high and the nurses had explained his body was working hard. I held his hand and said "Daddy I'm here". At that moment, his heart stopped. I remember running out of the room, I ran to the end of the corridor where I collapsed into tears. I was going to live without him. Two weeks from the day he went into the hospital on November 20th, my dad passed away.