Cancer Sucks!

My Dad, Tony, is a silly guy.  He likes to play blues and write goofy songs. He's a 65-year-old retired airline mechanic and he's literally a mechanical and construction genius.  I get my creativity from both parents.  The vision and aesthetic talent comes from my mom, but I get my keen sense of how things work and my  "making" skills from my Dad.   Whenever I grab a beer and cloister myself in my studio, it always reminds me of my Dad and his garage. 

A couple of months ago, he started having these weird episodes where he would lose his voice.  And he had a cough with no medical explanation like bronchitis or pneumonia.  Finally, he was diagnosed with Metastatic Thymic Carcinoma, a very aggressive tumor of the Thymus gland.   This cancer is so rare that they have no research or true frame of reference.  They do know that it is incurable.  It will really be a matter of keeping a watch on it.  And he will never get his voice back.  The tumor has pressed on his vocal chords and permanently paralyzed part of them.  He joked, "There goes my singing career."  That's my Dad.  Always goofing.

He had his first chemo treatment this past Wednesday.  My heart is breaking for him.  No one that is so hard-working and energetic should have to go through this.  I pray that it will be very successful and that he will have a long and healthy time before he has to revisit this nightmare.  

My reason for writing this post is that I want to help my parents out with the cost.  My Mom, Patty, owns and operates a beautiful tearoom.  She is just starting to bring in real money, so banks will not refinance her building yet.  That's a bummer because she knows that consolidating will greatly help their finances.  We all know that bank regulations are stringent and that the struggling economy has tightened everyone's purse strings.  We've been throwing around some ideas.  The customers at AntiquiTea know my Dad well.  He was a big part of the rennovations to the West View location.

Anyways, I'm looking for ideas on how to do a fundraiser that incorporates mine and my Mom's businesses.  Any suggestions and ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks, as always, for reading.  Here is a photo taken last summer.