The Last Week of July

And thus begins the worst week of the year for me, and some of my friends and relatives. On July 27th, 2010, my cousin Darrell died. He was a year or two older than me, and more like a brother than a cousin to me. He spent his last decade on kidney dialysis, going to a clinic for that about three times a week. On July 27th, 2011, my best friend of 40 years, Dave Brooks, called and asked me if there was anything I wanted him to tell my dad when he saw him. He had just gotten word that he had kidney cancer. It would rapidly spread and he would die three months later, on Halloween afternoon. He was more like a brother than a friend to me...
On July 29th, 2008, my dad died, another one of my best friends. He battled peripheral neuropathy and was wheelchair bound for his last five years, only to die from lung cancer. It was discovered at the end of June that year. My dad was buried on August 1st.
So forgive me if I seem a bit melancholy this week. And a bit paranoid. I don't trust the last week of July...