Topic: Never too young

[Bailgang]

To make a long story short and avoid being melodramatic I have a 69 year old father in law, he's had prostate cancer problems and it now seems to have spread to a tumor in his esophagus and will start chemo/radiation treatment in a couple of weeks. Don't know what the long term prognosis is but he was in real bad shape a few weeks ago. Well anyhow my mother in law is out of town for the weekend so my wife and I are having him stay here till she gets back and I figured that being he's in decent health at the moment I better take advantage of it and take him out for a ride on my 750 today rather than wait for another time and have it be too late. Keep in mind my father in law is a grizzly old hardcore Harley lover meaning he hates Jap bikes but that doesn't mean a Jap bike isn't capable of putting a smile on his face. It was his first time on a bike in decades a we had a blast.

[Stev-o]

Good gesture! That is one ride you will never forget.  Good on you!

[Retro Rocket]

Yes, great gesture...

[flybox1]

Nice one, Scott.

[MoMo]

Good thing you did, must have put a big smile on his face...Larry

[Bailgang]

We would've ridden all day if it wasn't for all the meds he's taking but because of those meds he has to use the washroom often so I had to keep it to a short 20 mile ride but it was enough to bring back a flood of memories and he couldn't stop talking about it once we got back so much so that once I posted the pics on my FB page he started calling family members telling them to check out the pics on FB. Once those pics went viral within the family the phone started ringing like crazy with family wanting to talk to him about it. My wife and I just sat back and laughed because in almost every conversation we could hear him saying "hell yeah that's me on a bike!!".

[70CB750]

Well done!

[Duanob]

Nice! I wish my dad and I could've ridden together but he passed 20 years ago.

[Bailgang]

I'm glad I went with my gut instinct to take that time back in May to give my father in law one last hurrah because afterwards his health spiraled downhill and found out this morning that he passed last night in his sleep. My wife is taking it better than I would've expected but considering how his health was failing so rapidly she pretty much already had prepared herself. I'll be spending the rest of the week giving her a shoulder to cry and lean on so in the meantime wish me luck guys. Thanks.     Scott

[Demon67]

Give her a hug
Bill the demon.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Wow, Scott, sorry for you and your wife's loss. 

When I started riding and fundraising for last year's Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, I was surprised at how many friends Prostate Cancer has affected directly or through family.

[Bailgang]

It was more than just prostate cancer, he lived a hard life and basically his body quite literally started failing one organ at a time, a hard life meaning he was a very hard working person. He was on so many meds for so many problems towards the end it was obvious that the end was near and his passing is kind of a relief of sorts because he's not suffering anymore in fact I think watching her dad becoming more frail as days went buy hurt my wife more than anything. He was a tough old bird so to speak yet he had a positive influence on so many and most of the day today was spent listening to my wifes family laughing saying things like "remember when....." The tears will come I'm sure but for now everyone's tears are being wiped away with all the great memories.

[WhyNot2]

Sorry to hear your loss.......

I remember reading this just after my own prostate removal operation back in April.

Give your mother-in-law lots of hugs and a big shoulder to cry on....wife too.

God Bless all.

Celebrate the life, not morn the death.

[754]

Bet he really. Enjoyed and thought a lot about that bike ride.

[RAFster122s]

Sorry for you and your family's loss. Loosing your dad or mom is tough, no matter if you are prepared or not. Cherish the good memories.

[Retro Rocket]

My sincerest sympathy Scott....

[Bailgang]

We finally had a celebration of life ceremony for my father inlaw yesterday where his ashes were transferred into an urn that will be permanently sealed, it was a very unconventional service for a very unconventional kind of guy so when you add it all up it was very appropriate. It was an all day affair and the majority of those who showed up stayed from beginning to end, it was kind of an impromptu family reunion with many old friends mixed in so a lot of memories and laughter was shared. My father inlaw never was a serious bike rider but he did have some bikes in his past so the family and guests that showed up were encouraged to ride their bikes there for a "last ride" towards the end of the day where my brother inlaw placed his dads ashes on the front of his HD road king and everyone on their bikes followed for an hour long ride, some may consider it all inappropriate but for those of us who knew my father inlaw well it was actually very appropriate. There was about 20+ bikes most were straight pipe HD's so we make quite a bit of noise.

[dhall57]

Giving your father-in-law one last ride on 2 wheels(even if it wasnt a Harley) meant more to him then you will ever know Scott. Sorry to hear of his passing.