With Bill's passing my plate has been pretty full. He left a huge hole in my heart (not to mention our business). We were not only husband and wife (of 15 yrs) but we were partners and best friends. We sat three feet away from each other 24/7 working at what we considered our "fun". As many knew Bill had been diagnosed in Sept 99 with lung cancer and was given three to four months life expectancy. The battle was about to begin. He went through a hellacious time of chemotherapy, with the end result showing a miraculous 60% shrinkage of the lung tumor. In March of this year he had experienced an occasional vision problem so the doctors performed a CT and MRI of his brain to "rule out" any spread of the tumor. The news was not good. The cancer had indeed metastasized to his brain. The spread was so vast that there was no hope of continued chemo, no radiation, and no surgery. We were dealing with a death sentence! At that time (in March) the doctors said he only had "two to three months left, probably less." The battle got tougher day by day. As you may have known, Bill was a very proud and independent man, who hated to be mollycoddled. He hated to "give in" to a walker, and eventually a wheelchair, but his balance became more wary almost daily. The last month or so he couldn't walk at all and his speech became more and more inarticulate as the days and weeks waned on. When the time came that Bill could no longer even stand, it was time to bring in a hospital bed. I slept on a hide-a-bed right next to him (in our living- room) for the last two months, as he would frequently awake in the middle of the night confused and bewildered. Hating to be kept "down", many times he would try to get out of bed. By now, Bill needed help with all aspects of life such as eating, drinking, hygiene, and even turning over in bed, etc. His Quality of Life was my number one objective. I took care of him as long as I could, and to the best of my ability, however in spite of my taking care of him 24/7, the time came when I grew weary, not getting any sleep, not eating, and basically neglecting myself. By this time, Bill could no longer stand, sit, walk, eat or even roll over in bed. Against my better judgment, but having no recourse, I admitted Bill to the hospital on Wednesday, July 19, 2000. I thought this was the hardest thing I ever had to do. When the ambulance arrived for his transport to the hospital, he was frightened but cooperative. Once he was settled in at the hospital, he kept saying, "I want to go home!" By now he was very incoherent and I didn't know if he meant he wanted to go to our home or home to God. Once again, I thought this was the hardest thing I'd ever endured. As the days passed, he tried to speak, but his speech was so mumbled and garbled that I couldn't understand him. He was trying to "be heard" but became very frustrated. I was with him in the hospital from early morning until late at night on Wed, Thurs and Fri. When I arrived on Saturday morning, his breathing had become so labored it was frightful. He was getting Morphine injections every hour to keep him calm and unagitated. However, Bill lost his battle with cancer at noon on July 22, 2000. I had just told him (over and over) how much I loved him when he died in my arms. Letting him "go" was definitely by far THE HARDEST thing I have ever endured in my life. Bill was a great man, who loved life! He hated to go to bed at night and couldn't wait to get up the next day to get back to work. Often he would work himself into a frenzy, until he solved the problem at hand, sometimes getting only two to three hours sleep. Often referred to as a work-a-holic, Bill always told me that he could get all the sleep he wanted when he was dead. I hope he is getting all the rest he missed here on earth, as he surely deserves his piece of peace. He always gave 110%. He always went "the extra mile." As his wife, best friend and partner, I will miss him until we are together again in eternity. It is very hard for me to go in our "office", and it will take some time to get reorganized, but I know Bill would want me to go on, and I know he would also want his "life's work" to go on. Thus, I will continue making the back issues of his newsletter, The World Scanner Report, available to those still interested, as well as the CE-232 Scanner Computer Interface. If anyone wants to help with Bill's astronomical medical bills, a special account has been established for this purpose. Contributions can be sent directly to: Union Bank of California Acct# 0771354719 8359 Mira Mesa Blvd San Diego, CA 92126 Attn: Rhonda Smith (619) 230-3800 payable to: Cindy Cheek, trustee for William D. Cheek, Sr. or, if you prefer, directly to: Cindy Cheek, PO Box 262478, San Diego, CA 92196 Please accept my personal thanks to everyone for all the prayers and continued support. Sincerely, Cindy Cheek