For the last two years of Dad's life, he fought a difficult battle against a form of bone cancer, multiplemyeloma, which, from the time of diagnosis, he understood would almost certainly prove fatal. Like everyother challenge he encountered in his life, he met this one head-on, full of optimism and ready to try newways of conquering the problem. So, with the encouragement of the whole familyand the meticuloushands-on medical care management of my brother JohnDad embarked on a variety of experimentaltreatment programs with a group of excellent doctors.

He took his medicine, but he never dwelled on either the illness that had befallen him or its potentialcures. Rather, he seized the day. At the time of the diagnosis, in early 1990, he had been working,somewhat ambivalently, on an autobiography. He canceled that project, choosing instead to spend mostof his time and energy doing what he enjoyed most: flying his plane from town to town, going fromWal-Mart to Wal-Mart, visiting with his beloved associates. Toward the end of 1991, when he began torealize that his illness was catching up with him and would soon limit his mobility, Dadat the urging of ourfamily and others again turned his attention to the idea of putting his story down on paper while he stillcould. Once he decided to write it, he threw himself into this book project with the same focus andenergy he applied to everything he did in life. He was very particular about what he wanted his book tobe, and he worked at it daily, making revisions, adding anecdotes, refining style points, urging others tocontribute their memories.

By early March, his spirits remained high as he continued work on the book, but his physical conditionwas worsening. Then he received one of the great surprises of his life. The White House wanted topresent him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian award. President Bushand the First Lady would be traveling to Bentonville to present the medal to Dad, and he was thrilled bythe honor. At such an occasion, of course, Dad could have invited anyone he wanted to attend theceremony, but we hardly had to ask whom he wanted to be there with him: his Wal-Mart associates.

The award was presented on the morning of Tuesday, March 17, in the au............