Dad passes away on February 17th, 2008.

I'm really sad to have to report that my Dad passed away on February 17th, 2008 at approximately 8:00am Eastern Standard Time at his home in Myrtle Beach, SC.

He battled bravely a rare form of lung cancer called mesothelioma. My Dad was with my Mom during the last hours, as well as under the care of good Hospice nurses which made the last transition a comfortable one.

I just returned from South Carolina after being there for two weeks. Chihiro came with me as well.

I had scheduled a flight home that Sunday he passed thinking we would get a chance to spend some time together before things got worse. But he wasn't able to hold on, and I missed seeing him by about 16 hours.

There is a link to his obituary in the local paper in Myrtle Beach, the Sun News, as well as the funeral home that took care of his arrangements, Goldfinch.

By clicking HERE you can go to the Sun News guestbook site.

By clicking HERE you can go to the Goldfinch guestbook site.

Dad and I had some good times together the last year of his life, as well as others. But it was that last year that he really wanted to get out and do some things that he hadn't had a chance to do previously. See the blog posts on Germany and Yellowstone for how those trips went.

I would like to thank everyone who sent cards, flowers, plants, well wishes, and notes of concern regarding my Dad's passing.

We were all deeply touched by these outpourings of the human spirit.

My sister and I spoke at my Dad's funeral service sharing some stories and anecdotes from back in the day. It was probably the hardest, yet most rewarding public speaking I've ever done. My Mom, my sis, and I also had a chance to go through lots of old pictures and letters my Dad wrote. It was really nice to be able to reminisce about his life.

Please feel free to leave a post on this or the obituary links above. The obituary links will stay online for a year I believe.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks again for everything,

Drew