Celebrate his life or mourn his death?

     That is question on the anniversary of my father death.17 years ago today He passed into eternity .I want to take this time to remember everything he stood for and everything he taught me.Family,hard work,financial stewardship.He taught me that family comes first that no matter how hard you work to always leave time for family even if it is just time to say have a nice day before he was off to his.He taught the joys and rewards of hard work and sacrifice.He was sick all his life and wasn’t supposed to live past his teens, but with shear determination and will he proved the doctors wrong, then in  1979 they found a brain tumor the size of a baseball sitting on the front part of the brain they removed it  less than a year later he was back to working on cars,and driving tractor trailers again.In 1984 his kidneys failed and he went on dialysis,1989 my mom donated to my dad one of her kidneys.In  1993 they did surgery on him to relieve the pressure around his heart.He was clinically dead for a few minutes before they revived him.He said that Jesus showed him Heaven and told him it wasn’t his time yet.1994 they found spots on his lungs and by the time they went in to remove it it was too late,the cancer had already spread to his lymphatic system he died in his sleep  at home with family around him ,but through it all he did whatever it took to make sure the bills were paid and there was food on the table even if he went hungry.He did the best he could with the hand he was dealt .I love him and miss him,But I choose this day to mourn no more and to celebrate this man’s life and the lessons he taught me and the life he lived in front of me for almost 23 years.Thank you Dad!