My dad was the light of my life, he was my caregiver, confidant, friend, disciplinarian (though not much to be honest), funny storyteller, adventurer, empowerer. He wasn't much on encouraging my academic drive and he was very traditional in a way, but also not traditional because he raised me knowing no boundaries by my gender. He was my everything. When he was diagnosed with cancer it was so traumatic to even fathom losing the only person who ever really took care of me that I went on an almost 2-year bender. I felt like an orphan and alone as a single mother of 27 with a mentally ill mom who I had to help care for. I loved him so much. I cried at his funeral gathering with such force and passion it affected the up to 100 people that came to his memorial at I think an elks club or something like that. My brother did all the hard work with my father, he was there through dad's cancer helping care for him on the daily, I'm sure shockingly bad days, and to spread his ashes. Bryan spread them at Summit Lake on Mt Hood because my dad had expressed that he wished he had a house up there on the lake. I now dearly wish there was a memorial here in town. Update - 9/2021 He now has his name on the same space where my mother's ashes are at Wilheim Memorial.