I was watching the Diamondbacks game, in Arizona at my grandma's house, when all of the sudden my grandma stormed in the room.
“Cameron turn off the Tv we have to go to the hospital know,” she said.

She was sweating so I knew it that the situation was dire so I responded
“Why, what happened? Is anyone hurt?” She didn’t respond, so I repeated, “Is anyone hurt?”

It took a minute for her to compose her thoughts, but eventually she said, “yes, I mean.... Yes someones hurt.”

So knowing that someone was hurt I respond, “who.” Again she doesn't respond, so I repeat myself and say, “who?”

She replied, “Your dad he was... uh.. he was on an ATV with Misty, and it fell”.

Then I asked, “What happened what is wrong?”
She wrapped me in her arms and said, “He broke his arm into 16 pieces Cam, so.... this might be the last time you get to talk to dad”. She was using all of her energy not to burst out in tears ,“So we have to go see him now, ok?”

After she spoke I looked deep into her eyes, and saw that she was afraid. He wasn’t just my dad he was her baby. We both knew that breaking your arm into 16 pieces is a big deal, and that in just a couple of hours my dad could be gone.

We hopped in the car, and speed our way to the hospital. In my head I was saying funny you really don’t know what you have until it is gone, and it was all about to be gone. Taken away from me and out of my life, so I prepared for the last time I would ever talk to Daddy again.

When I walked into the hospital the air felt heavy on my shoulders, and every step was like walking a mile. It also had a very recognizable scent of prunes in the air. The hospital was very drab, and some might even go far enough to call it disgusting. Than “fourscore and seven years” in the future I finally arrived at my father's room. I stopped dead in my tracks. I wasn't sure what I was going to see when I opened that hospital door, and I knew that whatever it was it was bad. In my head I contemplated about what I am going to see. Will his intestines be skewed out around the operating table, our will it be like the guy from operation with a bunch of people trying to pull stuff out of him. Then I took a deep breath walked forward and opened the door.

I never got to see what my fathers arm looked like all I was told was that his bone was sticking out of his arm, and that the table was covered in blood. But what I did see later that day was the most important thing in my life. A man I have never seen in pain ,and in my mind was invincible lying defeated on a table. He left something in that hospital. Something that defines him. He was weak, and I could see in his eyes that he was filled with sorrow. After this day my father never looked at life the same again.Then with his arms wrapped around me while I cried he said something to me. He was on that table, looking deep into my eyes, but I can tell you that he thought he was going to die.Then he whispered something in my ear. Something that I may never repeat. He talked for what seemed like hours about how much he loved us, and that he will never leave us, but eventually a doctor came and told us to leave, so we left.

The next day we learned that my dad was going to be fine, but that he had gotten very lucky. Not many people break their arm open in the middle of the desert, and live to tell the tale. In my mind though this story isn’t about losing a family member it is about realising that at any moment we could die, and not to take any moment together for granted. It also made me think that no matter what I will always have family, and that together we are strong.

I will cherish and hate this story forever, but I will never forget what my dad told me while he lied on that table. I will never share it with a single sole.