July 15, 2009

For those of you who have been following Dan's story, Carol wanted to share the details of his last moments, as they happened yesterday morning. What the family witnessed was a definite and deliberate end of Dan's suffering--the closing of such a painful chapter and his ushering into the arms of God the Father.

Yesterday morning, Carol left word that Dan's fever had spiked above 106 degrees. In the time that followed (though she can't remember the exact sequence of it all), there were definite changes in Dan that are hard to communicate or put into exact terms. All signs of life, which they have been monitoring closely, were becoming harder to get a read on. His breathing started to change.

Family surrounded him, even on speaker phone. They sang to him and held him. They truly cherished his last moments.

He held his breath for a second. And then took another. And everyone assumed that he would stop breathing and that would be the end.

They sang "I Surrender All".

And somewhere in those moments, Dan opened his eyes and leaned his body forward, as if to get a good look at something. Not a small, momentary reflex...this was done purposefully and intentionally. As Carol puts it, his eyes had life in them, whereas over the past week, his pupils had been fixed and his gaze unresponsive.

He was beautiful.

He wasn't there and gone in an instant--it all happened over several seconds of time, in a room full of family that had nervously and anxiously awaited the moment when he would die. And while he remained with them for a few minutes longer, Carol knew in that moment that is was deliberately over.

And she saw him leave with excitement and life on his face. And she knew that in those last minutes, he wasn't suffering or afraid, or sad, or scared.

We prayed for a moment of recognition for this sweet family, and it was provided! To have that picture of Dan, with life in his eyes and his features--what an amazing gift in his final moments!

Details are being worked through, arrangements are being made, family and friends are traveling back to be with Carol and the boys this weekend. Pray that all goes smoothly and that the Lague's would feel peace and be given strength that is beyond them.