Over the last 12 years, I didn't know what to expect. I was scared. There was no way I wanted my father to die. But he didn't. He persevered through it all and I was always by his side. These scary experiences shaped me and I learned some valuable lessons.

It's okay to not know at first.

It first started when Dad was diagnosed with skin cancer in late 2004. That truly shattered me, as you could imagine. No one would've known if he would win the fight at first, but that's okay, because no one does. Fortunately, after a rough couple of months, he pulled through and survived. The scar on his stomach shows what he went through.

You not only feel unsure, you feel alone.

I really wish I could say it stopped with the cancer, but it didn't. On Easter 2008, Dad fell in the shower and started bleeding. I never talked to my friends about all of this, and no one knew except my mother. I felt so insecure and I felt so lonely. It was the first time I ever felt something like this, and it's something that I continue to deal with on and off. Again, he persisted, and our family was reunited.

You feel since it happens so much, if you didn't know what to think before, you certainly do now.

We went a few years before anything else serious happened. Then I came home from school one day to find my dad sitting in his chair, barely speaking. This time, I was really freaking out. When he couldn't write his name, we had to take him to the hospital. It turns out he suffered a mini-stroke. After about a week, he was back to normal, but since this was his 3rd near-death experience within 9 years, I was still afraid that he wouldn't pull through. But he did.

I'm glad to say my dad is still alive and thriving. In spite of everything that occurred, he hasn't changed. But those incidents have made me a better person. Anything can happen. Nothing's guaranteed. However, you aren't alone in this fight. People will be by your side in these battles. Obviously, I have no idea if this will happen again, and God forbid it won't. Remember, Dad, I'll always be with you no matter what.