F**k Cancer!

Aug 24, 2025

I have been absent from 2A Cops for nearly a month without any explanation (unless you follow me on X or Facebook). For that I apologize, but it was not without good reason, and you can probably guess based on the accompanying image what that reason might be.

In terms of my family, I consider myself a lucky man. I reached 55 years old with not only both of my parents alive, happy and in my life, but both of my parents-in-law actively are in our lives as well.

I grew up knowing all four of my grandparents, which I sadly took for granted as most stupid young people do.

I lost the first of my grandparents when I was about 14 years old, and that was my paternal grandmother, who was taken by Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Several years later, when I was in my early 20’s, I lost my maternal grandfather, a combat vet from the Pacific theater in WWII, to cancer, which brings me to the villain of this story.

Fuck Cancer!

I have not been writing or producing videos over the last month because I have been driving back and forth between Idaho and California (Sacramento area) on a weekly basis. My mother has been fighting cancer for several months, and sadly this was her second fight with that shit ass disease in the last decade.

This time her cancer was not a candidate for surgery or radiation, and the medicine they put her on made her deathly ill. It actually landed her in the ICU.

A recent photo of my mom out wine tasting

A few weeks ago, a followup PET scan revealed not only had her cancer spread, but it had morphed into a melanoma that was untreatable. My dad brought her home and she was put on hospice.

Watching her fade in that hospice bed absolutely sucked! It reminded me of watching her father, the one I mentioned above, in the same situation for the same reason.

On August 18^th, with my dad sitting next to her holding her hand, my mother died. Cancer had finally won the fight. She was 79 years old.

Fuck Cancer!

I owe my sister a huge thank you. She lives five minutes from my parent’s home and she was an absolute rock star helping my dad care for my mom.

My mother was always my biggest cheerleader, even when I did not believe in myself. In fact, I think she made more effort in those times. But like most parents, she was hard on herself, often apologizing for something done decades in the past that she thought she could have handled better. I would always remind her I that I ended up the man she was proud of because how she raised me.

No matter how old I got, she worried about me. She and my wife worried equally about me when I was a patrol cop. They both lost sleep because of my career choice.

She was always a kind, caring person to everyone in her life.

I can’t believe I will never talk to her again. Even now, nearly a week after she passed, it has not fully sunk in. I miss her tremendously.

Fuck Cancer!

One of my favorite photos of my mom and I. Christmas morning 1983. That 1972 Husky WR250 was sitting in front of the Christmas tree waiting for me.

Never take the time you have with your loved ones for granted. It always seems like we will have ample opportunity in the future, but that is a lie we tell ourselves. Tell them you love them today, because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Cancer has hit so many people in my family. Not only did cancer take my grandfather and mother, it tried to take my wife, my father, my sister, and both of my parents-in-law. I am seemingly the only one it has spared, thus far.

I know I sound like a broken record (if you are old enough to know what that is), but let me repeat this:

FUCK CANCER!

The hospice folks were amazing. I don’t know how they do it, but I sincerely thank them for everything they did not only for my mother, but for my sister and father who were caring for my mom daily.

I also need to thank a couple of companies for whom I have projects that they have allowed me to postpone until everything with my mother is sorted out. I owe projects to Springfield Armory’s publication, The Armory Life, and I owe DNT Optics a review.

I look forward to getting back to those projects as soon as we sort out everything with my mom.