Michael Is Dancing

For many of you who have followed with us, my brother-in-law has battled cancer for the past two years. This past week the Lord decided Michael had to fight no more. While I have many words and feelings, I don't think I can express anything quite as well as his awesome wife Jen. Jen sent this email out the following morning after Michael passed. His life was truly one lived to the fullest. We will forever miss him.

FROM JEN:

hi friends!
i didn't think i'd be writing this email this soon. after a two year battle with cancer that michael fought with such toughness and determination he is nowrejoicing with our Lord in heaven. michael peacefullypassed away last night at 11:50 pm. yesterday was atough day. michael went to bed as normal saturday night. he even slipped out of bed around 3:00am. i helped him back into bed and he made some silly comment about being clumsy. when the boys woke me up in the morning around 7:30 i noticed michael was slightly labored in his breathing. at first i justthought he was snoring, but after looking at him his left eye was slightly open and looked un responsive. i tried to wake him up and couldn't. i moved his arms, legs, tried sitting him up and put water on his face,but nothing. i then called our oncologist office who told me to call 911 right away. i did and the firetruck and ambulance were here in under fifteen minutes and by 8:25 we were in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. once arriving they put him on a ventilator and got a ct scan to see what was happening. two of his tumors had some more bleeding and there was tremendous pressure in his head causing his brain tobe pushed down to the base of his brain stem (called herniated). i was quickly told this was not a reversible condition and there was nothing we could do. he would not recover from this. he was not in any pain and it would be a matter of hours before we would lose him. around 11-12 they moved him up to an icu room where we (me, my dad, bill and andy) sat with him. my mom and sister also made it to the hospital for a little while and were able to say their goodbyes. michael's parents got in their car and tarted the seemingly never ending drive. thankfully hey arrived around 10:00pm and michael was still with s. the ventilator was the only thing keeping him live. after spending some time with him we decided round 11:30ish to stop the ventilator. this was something michael and i had talked about. it only took minutes since he was not able to breath on his own before he peacefully was embraced by our loving heavenly Father who took him home. of course i would have preferred a miraculous healing, but since obviously this was michael's time to go i couldn't have asked for better circumstances surrounding the day. we were blessed with lots of loving friends in the waiting room, great neighbors who stepped upwithout hesitating, an amazing hospital staff who wassupportive and michael being painfree and totally peaceful. it was a long hard day, but i can smile today knowing he's where he belongs. and nobody loves him more than my God. he's left an imprint in many lives which is exactly what he wanted to do. he will continue to live on through all of us and especiallyhis sweet boys. please pray for them as this is something so foreign and strange. i talked with them this morning and we shared some tears together, but all agreed we would still love and talk about daddy whenever we wanted to. and of course he would never stop loving us. thank you already for all your love and support. it comforting to know i have so many amazing people around me ready to help with anything! let this week be a celebration of michael's life! he most definitely deserves it!

love,
jen