Goodbye Justin

On the evening of Wednesday, April 9th, 2008, we said goodbye to the bravest and strongest kid I have ever known - our nephew Justin. He has gone to be with Jesus after a long fight with lymphoma. He was a little more than a month shy of his 14th birthday.

Justin went through so much in the last two years and he barely ever complained. He endured more pain and procedures than any human should ever have to experience, let alone a child and still he never let it break his spirit. He stood on the Word of God to the very end and was a shining example of how a Christian should be when confronted with such a struggle. He still had that quick wit, stubborn attitude, sparkling eyes and bright smile no matter what the circumstance. He's gone through chemo, a splenectomy (after which he took morphine for ONE DAY before deciding he didn't like the way it made him feel and so he braved the pain instead of being a zombie), radiation, and a bone marrow transplant in the weeks before his death which was actually successful! The transplant did in fact engraft however an infection and multiple allergic reactions to antibiotics did irreversible damage to his already fragile body. As a result, he was connected to more intravenous medications than I could count, a dialysis machine and a respirator. On Wednesday, they discovered that his brain had swollen and was bleeding and the doctors advised his parents that he would likely never come out of it. In addition, his organs and muscles were beginning to break down.

Just after 8:30pm, the life support was shut down and his little heart stopped beating. It was very calm and peaceful but absolutely the saddest thing I have ever seen. The sorrow was immense in the room and I know that the tremendous heartbreak I felt was only a fraction of what his parents must have been feeling. We know that Justin is happier than any of us can imagine now and that we will see him again someday and that does bring his parents, his siblings and the rest of the family some comfort...but time does go slowly for us down here and it seems so far away and his presence is definitely missed until we meet again.

Please pray for his parents and siblings during this time. It is such a huge void in their home now and they need all the love and support that can be sent their way.