At about 3:30 this morning, my dear friend Gerald Hemphill passed away peacefully in his sleep.

The father of four girls, including my goddaughter, and husband to one of my very best lifetime friends – Misty Hemphill – he was diagnosed with colon cancer more than two years ago.

Stubborn as all get out and not willing to go down without a fight, he did everything in his power to win, even when the cancer spread to his liver and then the rest of his body.

In the last few months, he had tumors on his spine, which caused him an inordinate amount of pain and he lived his last days on the maximum amount of morphine. (more…)