Friday, March 18th, 2016 (Early Morning)

I went to sleep in the recliner next to Tom’s bed so he didn’t wake up and try to get out of bed on his own in the middle of the night. He can’t use his right leg, and it would be easy for him to get hurt. He’s fallen a few times, but we’re trying our best.

Then,I had a dream I shot Tom in the back of the head to spare him a painful death, like George shoots Lenny in Of Mice and Men. We live on a lake. It’s beautiful. I had wheeled his chair up by the water, and the whole dream was silent until I pulled the trigger and the gun went off. The bang was still ringing in my ears when I woke up.

I hate this.

This is a part of a series of essays which I began while my step-father Tom — a good man — was undergoing treatment for particularly aggressive brain cancer. He began experiencing acute symptoms on March 6th, 2016, and passed away nineteen days later.

His family and friends started a college scholarship fund in his memory. If you would like to donate, you can do so at tombroadheadscholarship.org.

Eric.