As a child
my father seemed invincible and all-powerful.
His body was a source of fear,
often terror.
Years later,
as a grown man,
he still intimidated me physically.
I could never see his body as the fragile container
that it is for all of us.
It never occurred to me
that he might get sick.
But he did.
And over a period of six months
I watched my father's body deteriorate,
and eventually
I watched him die.
This was the last great lesson
the father taught the son.
And like those that had come before it,
this lesson was administered
unconsciously and unknowingly.
The cancer . . .