Charley's Race is Over - He is with the Lord

My dear friends,

This is just the hardest update for me to write to you. This afternoon (Thursday) Charley passed away at about thirteen minutes before five.

Grandma and I arrived at the hospital around noon. Charley's lungs were having difficulty keeping up with his breathing apparatus, his heartbeat was very rapid, and he had low blood pressure...he was sleeping. There was a beautiful Chinese hymn being played on the CD player. "Jesu ai ni"...Jesus loves you. They had x-rayed his lungs and were to give him a red blood transfusion....technicians and doctors came in to do another test first, and I had to leave the room because it was just too crowded with all the machines and the medical teams. Later on they called me to come back to the room.

God peacefully took Charley as His very own. Mom was lovingly swabbing his dry lips, dad, grandma, three very dear friends, and I, all had our hands on him as we prayed and told him how much we loved him. The chaplain, social worker, doctors and medical staff were so sympathetic, kind, and gentle.

Oh, yes, Deborah, Nehemiah and grandma certainly need God's gentle touch.
Please, please remember this wonderful family often in your prayers.

How can we ever thank you enough for all of your prayers and support throughout this last year?

God bless you all.

Thank you.
Maddy


From Erin:

Charley's race is over. He is now at peace and with the Lord. Amen for the beautiful life that Deborah and Nehemiah gave him! And praise God for all that Charley has given us - love, amazing friendships, a stronger appreciation for all we have, and most importantly, a renewed faith in God. Thank you, Charley, for all you have done for us. May your legacy live on through each of us. You have made us all better people.

The arrangements will be posted on this site as soon as we know them - probably in the next day or so.

We are asking that Charley's friends use discretion in contacting his parents. As you can imagine, this is such a tough time for them and they have requested to grieve in privacy for at least the first few days. Please do leave your comments below this entry and Deborah and Nehemiah will read them when the time is right.

Thank you for being part of Charley's life. It was beautiful. Now he is off to do some bigger and better things with the Lord. Amen!