Cody James Waters was born on April 22, 1999, in Los Alamitos, CA. Both of his parents are retired law enforcement. His older sister Mackenzie, is a nurse and his younger sister Kristen, is attending college out of state.
When Cody was 5, he began playing baseball, flag football and basketball. He also started riding a Honda 50, dirt bike. Cody was like any other boy, he enjoyed playing sports and going out to the desert to ride.
On Easter weekend in 2008, we went out to California City for our annual Easter weekend in the desert. Cody was not his usual self that weekend. He stayed in the trailer almost the entire weekend and he did not want to participate in the Easter egg hunt. We thought maybe he had a cold or flu. He was complaining of pain, but was very sleepy and lethargic. When we got home, Cody was still not feeling well and while in the bath, he went unconscious. The paramedics arrived and immediately transported him to the Hospital.
After their initial exam, it was determined Cody had a brain tumor and he underwent emergency surgery. The tumor was removed, but it grew back and within a few weeks he had to have a second surgery. After each surgery the tumor would grow back and Cody would undergo four surgeries along with radiation and chemotherapy, before the doctors told us there was nothing else they could do for him. Cody lost his fight against cancer on March 14, 2009. He is buried at Forest Lawn in Cypress, CA.
I took this picture a few months before Cody died and it is one of my favorites. We were at the Jawbone Canyon Store one weekend, and Cody asked me what beer tasted like. I told him he could have a sip if he wanted to. (At that point I knew Cody was not going to beat cancer, but I also did not think he would take a sip of the beer. However, I was gonna let him do so if he wanted to). So when I told him he could take a sip, he looked at me as though I was crazy. He said "no way Dad, I don't want to get in trouble" I told him it was OK and he could take a sip if he wanted to. We went back and forth for a couple of minutes and in the end, Cody did not take the drink of beer. I told him I would take a picture of him pretending he was taking a sip, which he thought was "cool".
