thoughts after diagnosis

<p>I wrote this poem after my Uncle Bernie was diagnosed with bile duct cancer in his early 50's.&nbsp; My uncle was gay which brought many struggles to him throughout his life.&nbsp; He was born in Erie but decided to move to Pittsburgh where he attended art school and worked at a book store.&nbsp; He visited home in Erie often however to spend time with me and his other 8 nieces and newphews; he spoiled all of us rotten.&nbsp; He was the one person in my life that took me seriously when i said i wanted to be an artist; he bought me art kits full of markers, crayons, colored pencils, charcoal, etc. for every holiday it seemed.&nbsp;</p><p>They say only one percent of all cancer patients suffer from bile duct cancer.&nbsp; Sadly, its one of&nbsp;more deadly as well.&nbsp; He was diagnosed in August.&nbsp; The day he and everyone else got the news is&nbsp;a day that will be burned into my memory forever.&nbsp; How could someone so young have their life stripped from them in an instance?&nbsp; We all were in denial and couldn't face the obvious truth staring us in the face.&nbsp;&nbsp;He died a few weeks later in September.&nbsp; By that point he had lost so much weight he looked like a skeleton; he could not eat; he could not move; he could not talk.&nbsp; He died in bed surrounded by his family, a bright side to the awful situation.</p>