The Strongest Man

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This month is my dad's birthday. He would have been 83. My dad was the strongest man I have ever known. He was an ironworker out of Local 1 in Chicago. He built skyscrapers. As far as my dad was concerned the higher the building the better. My mom preferred not to know how high up my dad was going to be on a daily basis. She was very afraid of heights. My dad passed away at the age of 64 from an inoperable cancerous brain tumor. When they found the tumor it was the size of my fist. They showed us the tumor when they did a brain scan and it's an image I will never forget. They found the tumor and he passed away all in the span of 5 weeks. My dad came from a family of 9 kids, grew up on a farm in North Dakota. They were wheat farmers. Back then they used DDT to control the insects. It was common practice and before they knew that DDT was a dangerous pesticide. Of the 9 siblings 6 died of cancer. As well my grandfather died of cancer. Many people ask if I'm afraid I will get cancer. It's not something I think about but I have my thoughts on why so many of my dad's siblings got it. DDT. I think they all got cancer because of their use of DDT. I don't think this cancer was a hereditary thing. I have 60 cousins from those 8 siblings of my dad's. As far as I know none of us have had cancer. Most of them still live in North Dakota, but the oldest cousin lives in Indiana and he is in his early 70's. He is doing pretty darn good. I think it's past time for this horrible disease to be cured. Sometimes I think it already has been, but to much money is being made on curing it that the powers that be won't release it because the money would be gone. All the cancer centers, all the doctors who deal with cancer, all the scientists and researchers would lose the money. It's sad for me to think that my dad died because someone didn't want to lose their gravy train. I think billions possibly trillions are being made every year from cancer treatment and all it entails.From the beginning to the end. Sorry for this sadness, my dad popped into my mind and I had to say what I felt. My dad was the strongest man I have ever known and my best friend. I could say anything to him and he always had my back. I was his tiger. He nicknamed me tiger when I was 1 and the entire extended family always called me that. It was the last thing he ever said to me "Tiger". This image is cancer cells from pixabay.