Overcoming The Battle: The Story of a Flyers fan who never gave up.

A battle his family would have never been prepared for. A battle in which they just were not going to know the outcome of the diagnosis. The tough mentality that Mike has, helped him when he went through days of pain, and moments where I'm sure he just wanted to give up, but he never did.

Now, let's get into his love for his team, and we will return with more on his story.

Mike is a 4-4 Philadelphia sports fan. A die-hard Eagle's fan, with his famous saying «Birds of a feather, Flock together», and of course, a huge Flyers fan. There may be no better fan, trust me I know. Mike is the guy who is screaming «Cup crazy» during a preseason game. The guy who is passionate about every play at every game. I remember Mike watching the 2010 Stanley cup playoffs and the look on his face when they lost that sad game 6. I'm not sure I ever seen him so mad.

The great stories of him and his buddies down at the 1974-1975 Stanley cup parade and how many headbutts he delivered to every fan; he is quite the character. The Flyers are and will always be everything to him. Sitting there with his cut off sleeve shirt or a Brian Propp jersey on. He rarely missed a game. This team is everything to the big guy.

Now back to the story, Mike had eventually rung the bell to become «Cancer Free». Now time down the road, lots of complications have arisen. The cancer returned, only now being spotted in his lung at first and then of recent, moved to his chest and abdomen. His family and friends stood by him as much as he needed them, Mike has a huge family: 1 wife, 5 kids, 2 cats and some grand babies. The 5 kids make up 4 daughters and a boy. The girls are Nina, Alison, Kristin, and Mary. The lonesome son, someone who had always tried to do his best to make him proud, that son bring me. Frankie James.

All that being said, Dad went through days and days of radiation, chemo, a massive surgery that removed the particles of the jawbone and reconstructed the jaw with part of his fibula. He is home- Cozy and doing the best he can. He talks frequently about the Flyers even in the offseason, questions coming left and right about the team- I can hearing him screaming now «Frankie, what are they going to do now? They have to get rid of the whole team». Always jumping the pistol for sure. In closing, my dad has always been a huge support of the team, me, and My writing. He's here and making the best of every day, and every Flyers season. I couldn't be prouder of him.

«Birds of a Feather, Flock together»

- Mike A Lithgow