Last Friday March 6th my father Alberto Ayala died in his hospital bed in Cancun, Mexico at 1 a.m. My brother Alberto Ayala Jr. was with him. He died of multiple organ failure after developing acute anemia for the last three months. I flew to Cancun on February 27th to be with him and was able to talk to him for a few days before he slipped into comma. However, he was not lucid all the time as the liver failure caused damage to his brain. We had a small viewing Friday afternoon and on Saturday 7th we spread his ashes in the ocean as was his wish. I am heartbroken but at the same time relieved that he is not suffering anymore.

After my brush with death in July 2013 when I diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, I started worrying about me dying before my parents and how cruel and hurtful that would be for them. They hadn't met my grandson their first great grandson. When we arrived in Cancun a week ago my father was already in the hospital and incoherent so he did not get to meet Leandro, my grandson. At least my mother did meet him and we are now planning another trip in the summer to be with my Mom.

As always my father left me a legacy even in his dying days. Eight years ago he purchased a funeral package and everything was taken care of so my mother did not have to stress about it. I've been putting off filling out the final directives and I am going to do it as soon as possible as early as this week because I can't be selfish to leave my daughter with the financial and moral stress to make decisions for me.

Well, this is mostly not cancer related but I needed to write it in here for posterity.

Aurora