My father died when I was 25, about the same age as Michelle. He had been ill for just a year and was only 48. I grieved mightily when he died, but I also made a vow to try to live fully each day and to count each day as a gift, always hoping that I would have a good life and a longer life than he was granted. He was a very nurturing father in a time when not all fathers were. Today I've passed the age of 70 and I still both miss him and thank him for all that he instilled in me by his own life philosophy and example.