thomas is now on morphine to ease his breathing. he is in no pain. he takes a sedative every 4 hours. he is still communicating with us with mostly sign language and eyebrow movement. he is still the classic tom.....still wanting fruits and drinks and not losing his gag reflex which surprises the nurse. we continue to sing songs of praise with him and kiss his face and hands and assure him of our love.

lenny smith, friend of tia & nathan from center is here visiting. he was close to thomas. thomas was his boys brigade ranger at church.

lagios/sullivan family will be stopping on saturday. friend sherri mclaughin will be arriving tonight.
sincerely.

thomas has rested well today. this evening he had some trouble breathing because of the congestion. we prayed him through it with help from some meds.

the previous blog was added by nathan just to let each of you reflect on a great man's life.
of course, thomas would say that Jesus is the greatest of all. that is true, but thomas comes in second in my opinion.

we know his time on earth is winding down. we ask of God for peace and comfort for thomas as he crosses into eternity with his savior.

SURPRISES

thomas said he was hungry and thirsty yesterday evening. he had watermelon, applesauce, jello.
said he would like to take me to italy before he meets jesus at the gate. what a sweetheart he is.

the nutters' formerly from chippewa E.Free and a pastor friend came last afternoon and prayed and anointed thomas and read scripture. how comforted we all were. my mom, nanny, is here for a few days.

thomas michael climbed up in bed with "pop pop" to watch a movie for a tidbit of time. precious.
we told him pop pop will someday sleep and sleep and then wake up in heaven with jesus. he said "when, tomorrow after pop pops nap?" he said i believe in Jesus too!!

thomas had a restful nite of sleep. we are so grateful to the Lord for His grace he has given us.
we cling to every moment we have with the strongest, kindest, pure, dedicated, caring, faithful man we have EVER known. and we have known many of these men. but none like Thomas.

be of good cheer everyone. know that we are being carried in the cradle of the loving arms of Jesus.

LIGHTER SIDE

as i was asking the hospice RN if she thought thomas was in a declining state, she acknowledged that he is, thomas (who has been unable to speak hardly at all) raised his hands up and said firmly----"MAYBE". he has a tenacity for life that is remarkably god-given.

he is now not eating and drinking and is mostly sleeping.

i am in awe of the birth and death events of life.

PRAY

i had to call 911 at 4 AM. thomas could not breathe well. hospice could not get oxygen to him for 6 hours so we went to the hospital. he is home now and resting comfortably. will probably have to continue to use oxygen as the tumors in lung produce fluid and he is not able to expectorate the fluid. the ER doctor said thomas is very, very ill. we know, but hearing it is hard. Jesus has comforted thomas on this cancer journey every footprint along the way. we know they are HIS footprints in the sand and not ours.

please do not be discouraged. thomas is not afraid. his faith is built on the promises of God through Jesus Christ His Son.

Nathan and Tia struggle with the thought of losing their father in this life, yet they know where he is going.