A Letter From Dad

My dad emailed yesterday, after calling in tears. He is deeply moved by all of the generosity, and compassion, and felt compelled to share his feelings on the blog. I love him so much, and am happy to oblige!

Hi Jess, 

Humility to a new level!

Greetings to one and all, my daughter has graciously allowed me to interject some thoughts on her blog. This is prompted by the results of the GoFundMe (instigated by some wonderful friends of my little Cricket).

Bonnie and I just returned from an arduous trip. It was difficult, but full of beauty. The goal was to procure medicine for Jessica in another country, a country that is extremely poor. The beautiful souls we met, who helped us, did it with joy in their hearts, but not much more.

Then, when we returned, we witnessed what has happened with Jessica's GoFundMe and I about fainted. As I scrolled down the donation list, I could not hold back my tears. I know that many who will read this don't know me, so let me give some background. I spent a year in Vietnam 1966 and then tested the hippie world for a few years before a stint in a vegetarian lifestyle. On to logging, trucking cross country, then to Alaska and working on the oilfield in the Arctic for 14 years. I was not a man prone to tears, but in the last two weeks, I have probably drained 4 or 5 gallons of them. It's been a good cleansing, but has reached a point where I am having trouble shutting it down.

My first 36 years were defined by the fact that I was a great consumer of spirits. From that haze, I have been a very selfish and arrogant individual for a large portion of my 70 years. So through the travails of my daughter over the last 6 and 1/3 years and the incredible patience and forbearance of my beautiful and generous wife, I am finally learning to change. 

I thank all of you for helping "my little girl". I cannot express the gratitude and love that I feel; you have left me as a pool of Jello. There are so many of you generous, loving, and wonderful souls. I need you to know that if there is ever something I can do to help you, it would be an honor.

Also one last thing - Claire-Darth-Kendrick-Kat-Isabel (stars of My Last Days) - I could never thank you enough for sharing your unbelievable stories and your sweet spirits. And Jessica, how such a wonderful and beautiful young lady can be related to me, I do not know. You have all inspired me to be true and genuine going forward. The six stories that are shared by "My Last Days" on The CW Network has filled me gratitude. 

God Bless all of you (God being of your flavor) mine being JC.

Love and hugs to all of you,
Bobaloo

Extended Version Episode Online Now

Oh my god, what an emotional 24 hours. We watched our episode (and Kendrick's too!) last night, and even on the third time, yep, I cried. Then, this morning when we watched the longer version on the website, and you guessed it. Cried again. But it's so lovely!!! From the music, the editing, reliving that beautiful wedding, uuuuuugh, it gets me every time. I am so filled with gratitude to everyone, for all of the help that we continue to receive.

The other day Dan and I were driving, in a rush, and we had no traffic, and I was telling him that I feel like the luckiest person in the world. I feel like everything always works out, or that no matter what, we can find fun in any situation. Gold dust floats around our life, maybe it's dancing angels overhead - I hope so, I like the mental image. I don't know how we have been this blessed. Dan smiled as I was laughing in amazement of our continued fortune, and then he said, "You're right, except for that small brain tumor thing." And I almost wet my pants. Hahaha! Oh right. That.

I've embedded the full version of our episode below (last night's was an 18 minute clip), the full one is 35 minutes. If you would like to use a link to watch in a larger window (which makes a lot of sense), you can click HERE. The longer version helps fill in the backstory, and ongoing details. I love watching everyone, their faces when they show up to the "birthday" party, and the intimate interviews with my parents and Dan. Those are the tearjerkers. What a lovely life I get to live, surrounded by these beautiful souls.