<p>I am so sorry, this is very sad. Please go home and be with your family. Yes, it will be hard in many many ways, but so so necessary for you and your mom in the long run. When my dad was dying, a good older friend of mine said, “you only get a chance to do this once, so do it right”. I tried to spend the summer with my dad, but i had a career and a young child, and for some reason I convinced myself I really needed to get away, get a break. I think I just couldn’t take it. So I did…and I wasn’t there when my dad died…and I still have deep pain about that 15 years later. Regret is a horrible feeling. </p>
<p>Who knows how you will feel in the future but what you choose now you will have to live with the rest of your life (and you will change as you grow older). I’m pretty sure if you go home, you will not have regret (what you are missing you can always make up for and it will seem trivial in the big scheme of things). However, you do risk regret if you don’t go home. </p>
<p>It also just seems like the right thing to do. For your dad, your mom, yourself. Be there. Its not what you DO, its your presence that matters. I’m not surprised your dad was being a dad and, as someone who loves you and wants the best for you said something like “don’t worry about me, its okay to go far away” However, now its your turn to grow up and be the loving person your father has been to you: like him, be generous and put him and your family ahead of yourself and be there for your family in their painful last days.</p>