Father's Day

On this Father's Day so many thoughts and feelings are running through me. I think I will start with talking about my grandfathers.

My grandpa Milo Bracken was born in Star Valley Wyoming. All my memories of him are of a quiet, smiling man. I remember fishing with him at Flaming Gorge. I remember going deer hunting west of Nephi in his green truck. I can't remember a cross word coming from his lips. I think of his look of joy when he was around his family. He was a man who truly understood what hard work was and was never afraid to do what needed to be done. I always felt important and loved in his presence.

My grandpa Silas Crosby was born in Panguitch Utah. He was more cowboy than about anything else. People saw him as rough,, tough and gruff. I saw him as someone who wanted people to think that, but to me he was not that at all. I caught my first fish with him. He was always patient and kind to me. Watching my grandma and him taught me how a great love story should unfold. He was always a kid a heart and loved a new toy as much as anyone. I remember the robot bank that he would give the kids money to feed. His mongoose was a famous prank for most of my life. I never questioned his love for me.

Last year I did a full post on my Dad and my Father-in-law, but I could not, not write a little this year also.

My father-in-law Richard Yeates was also a great example to me. He shared a lot of traits with my grandpa Crosby. He wanted everyone to think he was the meanest man on the street. But, nothing could have been further from the truth. His love, devotion and caring for his family were as great as anyone I have known. His acceptance of me as a son was a real as could be.

My Dad gave me everything a boy really needed. He taught me respect for women, respect for God and respect for others. He showed me how a real man puts others first. Tomorrow he will celebrate his 75th birthday. He is still working hard, keeping in shape and going strong. I hope that I can follow in his foot steps.

Sitting in church and listening to the talks about father's day, I was filled with gratitude for the privilege of being a father. Nothing in my life has brought me more joy. I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for allowing me to share in the great experience.

What a month

I can only say that we have been looked after from above. A couple of months ago I noticed that I had something that looked like a wart growing on my cheek. Needless to say I was not happy about it. I called and made an appointment with my dermatologist. About a week before the appointment, I was sitting on the couch and Jane walked by me and said, "You have a spot on the top of your head. Have the doctor look at it while you are there next week". At the appointment I had the doctor remove the "thing" from my cheek and had him look at my head. He said that the spot did look questionable and wanted to do a biopsy of it. A week later I had a call from him. (not from the staff, but from him). He told me that I had tested positive for melanoma. He referred me to a specialist. He also told me to have an eye exam and to let my children and siblings know that my testing positive increased their odds. The eye exam was totally clear.

We then went to see the specialist. He told us that what they had found was a level 1A which is the earliest stage of melanoma. He said that I would need to have surgery to have a portion of my scalp removed to insure that all the cancer was gone. He also said that I might have to have a skin graft to cover the area.

On Tuesday I had the surgery. I struggled with the knock out stuff and was unable to keep anything down the first night. Wednesday we went back to the specialist to get the final results. It was all good news. First, all the cancer was removed so I would not have to lose any more scalp and he was able to get the wound closed so no skin graft. I have a neat trail of staples across my head, which will stay in for another week.

We are truly blessed to have been able to find this so early and get it taken care of.