I'm best at telling stories from my own perspective, but something like this is unimaginably difficult to navigate and is best opened in a single, blunt sentence. My dad has Stage 3 squamous cell carcinoma throat cancer. My dad, Carl Pruett, is creative and patient. He's worked manual labor as long as I can remember, always preferring to work with his hands. He's an absolute beast at solving a Rubik's Cube, and he was the one to always help me beat any part of a video game I was too challenged or scared by. He's the reason I know how to make some of the best biscuits you'll ever have and there are now friends of mine across the country that carry his pancake recipe in their back pockets to resounding praise when they clean their plates. My world was turned upside down on May 1st when he told me they confirmed it was cancer and he had to go back to Atlanta for a treatment plan.

He'll be receiving 7 weeks of daily treatment, radiation and chemo, through Tennessee Oncology PLLC: Memorial Plaza. Since being laid off and getting his diagnosis soon after, it has been a financial struggle for him to travel back and forth to appointments. With his daily treatment beginning soon, I'm looking to raise funds to help dismantle as many barriers as possible between him and treatment. Anything raised will be used for gas as well as other necessities such as housing and groceries.

I'm 24, and though I'm grown, I need my dad. I want him around for a long time, so I'm turning to my community, both ones local to me and others I've founded over the years in this time of need. Even sharing helps more than you can imagine. Thank you for your time.