Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.Gaunt and gray, Bill LaHood worked to lift his arms around his sons.
Everything is hard now.
"My doctor says we're looking at a matter of weeks," LaHood, 48, said Saturday.
He and his sons, 20-year-old Shawn and 14-year-old Ryan, were the first beneficiaries of an Omaha group called Memories for Kids. The organization strives to provide a memorable experience for the children of a parent who is dying of cancer.
The LaHoods are baseball lovers. Because of the father's condition, they couldn't make it to Major League spring training in Arizona, so the organization gave them a baseball-themed party at Werner Park in Sarpy County.
LaHood had entered the hospital Friday because of pain from his cancer. He left the hospital Saturday morning because he didn't want to let his sons down.
"I was so scared Bill wasn't going to make it," his sister, Laurie Lesley, said. "He took a couple extra pain pills and said, 'Let's go.' "
The party took place in the home locker room of the Storm Chasers, whose administrators opened their facility to about 30 LaHood family members and friends, hung out with them and ordered lunch for everyone.
The LaHoods received tickets to the College World Series, three Omaha Storm Chasers jerseys, a signed and framed Derek Jeter jersey, baseball bats signed by Kansas City Royals star Alex Gordon, tickets to the Yankees and Royals in Kansas City, a tour of the ballpark and indoor batting practice for the sons.
Bill LaHood watched them take their cuts. From his wheelchair, he gave instructions in a raspy voice to Shawn, a sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
"Slow, easy swing. You're tryin' to kill it," the father said. "There you go."
Lisa Gravelle created and heads Memories for Kids. Her sister-in-law died of cancer in 2010 before the family had a chance to hold this kind of celebration for her three children.
"It feels good to do it for somebody else," Gravelle said with tears in her eyes.
So far Gravelle, her board and some donors have paid for the effort. They want more beneficiaries and donations.
With an "ah," LaHood lifted his arms from his sons' shoulders. It started two years ago with colon cancer and spread. He's endured chemotherapy and radiation treatments. His cheeks are sunken.
He picked at a sausage and sipped a bit of iced tea. "It's wearin' on me," said LaHood, who lives with his sister. "It's rough."
At the batting practice, Storm Chaser employee Ben Kratz threw a pitch inside to Ryan LaHood, an eighth-grader at Westside Middle School.
Ryan jokingly dropped his bat and made a move toward Kratz, who ran.
Ryan said he loved seeing his dad smile and laugh a little. "It's great to see him happy for once in the last couple months."
Contact the writer:
402-444-1123, rick.ruggles@owh.com
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