My grandpa and Father Aloysius
The year was 1974, and my grandparents were facing the biggest test of their lives.
My grandmother, Angela, was hospitalized after contracting a life-threatening case of Hepatitis A while giving birth to her 12th (and final) child. During the same time, my grandfather, Gay John, was diagnosed with terminal malignant melanoma. As they both underwent treatment, their children were dispersed among family members to help care for them.
Then 45, my grandmother eventually recovered and regained her strength. But the prognosis for my grandfather remained dire: doctors found that the skin cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, and there was no treatment available that could stop it.