Monthly Archives: December 2006

Paying Respects

Paying Respects

This is one of the squirrels here in South Carolina that has the unusual color combinations my stepfather Dan had pointed out to me. I came across it after we came back to South Carolina after Dan’s funeral, while taking a short walk along the golf course (temporarily inactive) where he loved to play.

I’ve been taking short walks hoping to see the squirrel again before I head back to Oregon, but so far no luck. But I am thankful to have been able to share a few moments with this one, as it fills me with warm memories.

Daniel Lee Rider 1941-2006

Three Smiles

If you’ve wandered through my web site or read through my blog, you’ll know many of the things I treasure in life. Hiking through the hills, little newts on the forest floor, the quacking of rafts of waterfowl in the winter. My cats sleeping on my chest or having adventures through the house or through my mind.

But there’s at least one thing that’s of great importance to me that I deliberately haven’t talked about here: my family. I keep a separate set of pages for family pictures and stories that isn’t linked from my public site.

Today I’ll make an exception.

My stepfather Dan was diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year. While the cancer treatment itself was progressing well and the tumors were greatly decreased, Dan developed a rapid case of radiation pneumonitis as a result of his treatment and his breathing troubles became severe enough that he needed to be put on a ventilator. I flew in a couple of weeks ago to be with him and my family, but unfortunately he didn’t improve.

Dan passed away on December 13th.

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