Ellen and Brad has a "master plan" to take the Canadian tour by storm. Instead of the usual one-day event at a Barnes & Noble, we decided that we would try to do a signing at as many local bookstores as possible over a five-day period in each city. That way, Brad and I could additionally enjoy the cities as we traveled and sold copies of my book thru Canada.

First stop:  Vancouver! Vancouver, British Columbia, was a city I had always wanted to visit anyway. Heralded as a culinary mecca, I had already informed Brad that he would be taking me to both the high and low places in the way of eateries in the city. By day I would sell books, and by nite we would eat and drink our way thru Vancouver.

On Day-1, we did do our usual at Barnes & Noble. However, the bookstore scene was much more welcoming at the independents. MacLeod's was by far my favourite. It had an interesting atmosphere with not only books on the shelf, but also mountains of books on the floor. Stacked as high as my head in some places, this was a bookstore unlike Brad and I had ever seen. Day-2 was spent at Chapters, day-3 at The Paper Hound, day-4 at The Library Store and day-5 at Albion Books.

I managed to make an appearance and get a few copies on the shelf at Golden Age Collectibles, Criterion, UBC Bookstore and International Books & Novelties. All in, we made it to nine bookstores in downtown Vancouver.

By nite, we were carnivores. I remembered watching a show on the Travel Channel one time that touted the best restaurant in Vancouver as Vij's. It was an Indian spot; and not particularly a typical cuisine in Vancouver, but it was still touted as the best restaurant by far in Vancouver. As Brad and I dined, our taste buds danced like the people on Broadway. I had never reached what I thought was Umami until eating at Vij's. Eating his fare and complimenting the spicy dishes with wines like Reislings from the Alsace Lorraine region of was just phenomenal...over the top. We additionally paired our dinner plates with Sauvignon Blanc and at the end of our dinner, Sauternes. It was perhaps the best meal I had ever had in my life.

Not terrible in their own right was The Absinthe Bistro, Bishop's, the Blue Water Cafe & Raw Bar, Meat & Bread, Minami, Five Sails and Tuc Craft restaurant. It was in total the best dining experience of my life; and I was able to share it with someone that I loved.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I received a call when Brad and I were at Vij's. The good news was that we had eclipsed the 1,000,000 copy mark; he bad news was that Dad had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He would begin chemotherapy the following week.

Knowing this, I cancelled the rest of the Canadian tour. While I would have liked to have continued on to the other four cities, Dad was a priority. He might not make it to ninety-eight, as the outlook looked rather bleak. After Vancouver, I boarded a plane. I would spend the next eight weeks with my father.

This meant missing most of the summer at Casa Amor and out the book on hold, but I knew in my heart that i was the only right thing to do. Brad understood when I told him that I would be with my father; mostly alone, until his passing. I wanted that time with him to be special.

Dad had always been a private person, but he explained when I entered the house for the first time since his diagnosis that he wanted me to be there till the end. While he did not know it, that had already been decided. Brad visited about every two weeks. He and my father developed a small bond, as I hoped they would and he asked my father if he could have my hand. At the age of seventy-eight, I had been proposed to.

Not surprisingly, the proposal was overshadowed much by my father's ailing condition. The chemotherapy was weighing on his every last bit of strength; both physically and mentally. He told me stories about the war, about his college days as an athlete, about the fun times that he and mother had and his favourite memories from my childhood and of he and the grandchildren; Liam and Isabella. His memory; despite his age, had stayed relatively intact.

Liam and Isabella flew in a few weeks later. They both could stay only a week, but I could see my father's face lite up when the grandchildren arrived. Isabella immediately started crying when she saw her grandfather. They had been close over the years, but she could see the frailty in his eyes and body. Liam was much more resilient, but I could also see the stress in his face.

What helped us all was knowing that he would be joining my mother in heaven. Undoubtedly, they had each been strong in their faith and had passed on those lessons to myself and the children years ago. My father even recalled the baptism of Liam and Isabella as he spoke with them. He requested time with the three of us individually each day.

Being his only daughter, I had been quite a special gift in his life. He adored Brady and was beginning to like Brad. After all, he had given him his blessing to marry me. A bride at nearly eighty I would be. Why God had waited so long after Brady to bring me Brad, I could nary understand; but I had never doubted his purpose for my life.

Isabella shared with me that my father had spoken with her mostly about being a dedicated mother and wife. After all, she was slated to be married as well and would soon want children of her own. While Ryan and she wanted some time to themselves initially, they each were in unison in the decision to have children. My father talked about the wife and mother that my mother was to me. He explained to Isabella that the learning curve to becoming a successful wife and mother could sometimes be a tough climb. However, he reassured her along the way that she had more than enough skills to make the transition from career woman to mother and wife seamless.

Liam got a similar discussion, but it was geared each day toward becoming the leader of his household. He was to become a provider; but that of a different kind of the average man. My father explained to Liam that the average man only thinks of his profession. He shared additionally that a job is not the "be-all-end-all" to providing for your family. To be effective, one must be a leader from the standpoint of having a leadership style based on Biblical principles. My father reinforced this with examples from his own life for seven days. By the time Liam and Belle had to leave, they were well versed in their respective areas. They had their marching orders, and were expected to carry them out.

The week went by too quickly for both of them and back to their respective places they went. Fortunately, Liam and Isabella were able to see each other that summer. Liam was an intern at the National Institute of Health and of course Belle was still in Atlanta. Since the flights from D.C. to Atlanta were cheap, Belle would fly up to D.C., which was only a thirty minute drive from where Liam was stationed for the summer.

I continued to be there for Dad along the way and Brad came every two weeks. To get my mind off the seriousness of the situation, we talked about his novel and the wedding plans. At this point, Brad was almost seventy, which was still quite young in my eyes. Have been through that decade, I was beginning to see myself as a lot closer to the end like my father than at the beginning of the "home stretch" that Brad was in. Hopefully he would still have a good twenty to twenty-five years; and I fifteen to eighteen if I were lucky.

Brad was good about being patient and spending long hours at the hospital. There were a few times that I allowed myself to leave Dad's side, but they were few and far between. Life was too precious to meet any of the final moments.

Dad passed away on a Sunday. He had "fought the good fight" for seven weeks. He went quietly in his sleep early that Sunday morning. I called Isabella first, then Liam and finally Brad. My father had made his own arrangements years before so there was nothing much to take care of. We would simply follow the requests of his last will and testimony.

Not many showed up for Dad's funeral, but who has many friends at ninety-seven. At that age, most of your friends have gone before you, and it is your younger neighbors and siblings perhaps that will attend. I, being the lone daughter; and two grandchildren were they main characters in this play at the end of Dad's life. He had lived well; and outside of the time with my mother, he had shared with me in his final days how proud he was of me and the book. He had followed the numbers even from the hospital, as he made me look them up each day before he went to sleep.

Despite the small number, we laid Dad to rest in great fashion. Brad and I thought the brevity and the privacy of the situation played out exactly as my father might have wanted. We decided to all get together as a family for dinner in Asheville at Table. Table had been a staple for Dad and Mom once a month. Pricey, but always well worth the money.

As we talked, Liam shared with the group that he had good news. He had been accepted to Yale Medical School. Middlebury, the University of Minnesota and now Yale would be added to his curriculum vitae.  Isabella and Ryan were as excited as I. Brad, too, thought that not only was it the next logical step for Liam, but he felt that Yale would be more than an appropriate place for his studies.

I was excited for Liam. I had never been to New Haven, Connecticut; not even when I had traveled thru the north during the fall with Brad to look at the leaves in bloom.  On a few occasions, Brady and I also had traveled the northeast in the fall. Fall was my favourite season until I started spending my summers at Casa Amor. Without question, it was soon time to have a serious discussion with Silvio.

My one more month went by quickly. I had sold 2,000,000 copies of my book by the end of September when Silvio and his wife returned from Tuscany. I told Silvio that I would be staying over a few days in San Diego and wanted to have a discussion with him. He agreed, and we decided we would eat together in La Jolla.

I knew exactly what I had to do. I had to offer Silvio a price he could not refuse. Brad agreed to go in on the purchase of the home. He would put up fifty-percent of the offer and I the other fifty. We were to be married after all, so what was the difference. The total amount of royalties brought in from the sales of my books now was over $5M. I knew I would have to offer Silvio at least $3.5M, so that would mean coming up with $1.75M.