Craig Wood, the Hero Who is My Dad

In 2015, I decided to leave the religion I had grown up in. Not only leave that religion but completely rejected the concept of a god and became an atheist. The hardest thing about this life changing decision was telling my parents, especially telling my Dad.

See, my Dad is a 5th generation Latter Day Saint, a.k.a. Mormon. His family has deep roots in that religion, a lot of our ancestors settled parts of Canada and Arizona in the name of religion. My Dad walked away from his religion for a while, so me doing the same thing brought up some of those emotions again. He feels the LDS Church saved his soul.

They were not happy, and my Dad wrote me an email. He told me what I was doing was a mistake and that I wouldn’t find true happiness outside of our religion. He said his piece. I respectfully disagreed. We didn’t talk for a few weeks. It was like someone kicked me in the guts. My Dad and I chat every week and him not talking to me hurt, I cried for days. And the worst part was what if he never talked to me again? What if he didn’t want anything to do with my kids? I was heartbroken.

In April 2021, I was diagnosed with Stage IV breast cancer. This was only a few weeks after my best friend and roommate passed away unexpectedly. I. Was. Devastated. My parents came up to help me move and to help me while I went through my treatments. My Dad packed up my stuff, made several trips to donation centers, got the U-haul, packed that U-haul, unpacked that U-haul and moved my stuff into my 3rd story apartment. I read somewhere that anyone can come to graduations and birthdays, but only someone who truly loves you will help you move. My Dad is in his 70’s ya’ll!!! So yeah, that statement totally tracks.

My Dad spent the whole summer with us. He watched my kids while I went to chemo, he bought groceries, he did everything so I didn’t have to stress too much or move too much. It was a really terrible summer but it was also great. My parents lives in Texas and my kids and I live in Utah, so we don’t get enough time with my Dad, but summer 2021, we got him all to ourselves.

We were lucky enough to go back to Texas for 2 weeks in the early part of June 2022, I had more cancer treatments. My Dad came everyday as my daughter said, “Granddad is coming to hang out with us!” He’s her favorite person in the world. Dad took us swimming, bought pizza and played with the kids, there was a LOT of wrestling going on while I was getting treatments…my kids didn’t even miss me.

The incredible thing about all of this is that my Dad doesn’t hold a grudge against me for leaving the religion. He’s never said anything like “I told you so” or “If you had stayed in the religion….” and he’s supported me in everything I’ve done. He’s supported all of his kids, my brothers have also left our religious upbringing and my Dad loves us all and he doesn’t only say it, he shows it. Every time he’s watched our kids, every phone call to check in on us, birthday wishes, etc.

My Dad is special to all of us. He doesn’t let what he thinks we should be, come before his love for us. Even when we disagree, there has never been a doubt that he loved us. He’s always been patient, even when we were being absolute jerks. Being a parent now, I really appreciate my Dad’s love and patience and I understand how hard it is to give that everyday. My Dad is one of the best humans I know and I love him so much.