A fond farewell from David Murphy

[davidmurphy02]

When I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer early in 2022, it went badly at first and for a couple of months looked like my days were very numbered. I despaired at the thought never getting to go camping again. But I learned quickly to never say never - things improved and we were able to take a two month trip that fall. Then my luck got even better - my cancer kept responding well to treatment, and we were able to take two more trips last year. Four months in chemo and two months on the road sort of became the new normal, and it began to feel like that would last forever.

Alas, although I have more than doubled the normal life expectancy for this cancer, early this year things took a turn as this disease finally followed its normal progression. The chemo became ineffective and my cancer began growing back stronger than ever and spreading to other organs, so I am kind of in the bottom of the ninth inning now. I don't know when I will enter the final, difficult stage of this but I wanted to say my goodbyes, and a few other things, here while I am still coherent.

When we first discovered Escape trailers 6 or so years ago I immediately joined the forum and learned a million things that made our purchase decision and build sheet process much easier. After we got our trailer and began traveling and camping, the forum was an incomparable source of technical information and help when problems arose - no matter what goes wrong, it seems there are always several people who have had the same problem and others who are very knowledgeable about whatever issue anyone has.

But as we got a few years down the road and became very knowledgeable about our trailer and were much better equipped to just enjoy the camping experience, it was being a part of the Escape family that made that experience so much better. Over the years it has been such a joy to get to know forum members online and then cross paths with them in our travels - first by chance, and then on purpose. Meeting up with other forum members and sharing a campfire or hike together has truly been the best thing about being an Escape owner.

I wish I could have met more of you in person, but I am grateful for all the wonderful experiences I have had on the forum and out camping with some of you. I hope it doesn't seem like too much of a downer for me to post this now, but I wanted to be able to say these things while I can. Keep smiling, keep camping, keep sharing, and keep helping each other!

David