Silence

Dear Friends and Family,

I have so much to say; so many thank you's; so many words. However, I cannot yet verbalize it.
Please keep checking back.

Much Love,
Cilla

Arrangements

We will have a private graveside service

on Monday @ 11:00am

Oaklawn Cemetery

4801 San Jose Blvd

(by invitation only)

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Dads Celebration Service is

Monday @ 4:00pm

Cornerstone Christian Fellowship

2950 Belfort Rd

(Open to everyone. Please help us spread the information.)

Faith Became Sight

Dads faith became sight at 2:27 this morning, Friday, June 19th. He peacefully slipped into the arms of his Creator, where I am confident he heard the words, "I am well pleased!".

Immediate family, Rabbi David and some close family friends met in dads hospice room this morning at 4:00 for a private viewing. Dad was dressed in his favorite "dress outfit", khaki pants and his button up blue shirt. He looked peaceful and like "himself".

Mom had time to mourn and grieve and then we all came in and gathered around daddy. We played a few quiet songs including dads favorite, It Is Well With My Soul. Rabbi prayed and then we each said goodbye.

Everyone left peaceful and satisfied knowing that dad had successfully finished his walk of faith.

The family is staying at mom and dad's house today and accepting visitors.
Arrangements will be announced later today.

God is good all the time and ALL the time God is good.

More Waiting....

After dads breathing became more and more labored, it was evident his journey is getting closer to an end. He made it through the night and now we continue to wait.....

(Holding Tight. Picture taken on Tuesday):

(One of Dads best buds and prayers warriors, Charles Hudgens. We love you and your family! Thank you for coming to visit dad!):

All of the donations that were given to cover the cost of treatment are now being used to help with funeral arrangements.

We are planning the funeral dad wanted, which is very simple yet honoring. (Details will be given through the blog when the time comes) If you know dad at all, you know he wanted the cheapest everything! He made this clear before he was even sick!!! We are not doing anything "extra", yet we are honoring my dad and celebrating his life and legacy. His church is planning a reception after the memorial service. Thank you Beth Israel and Cornerstone for loving my dad and our family!





We have all pulled funds together, sold dads work van, cut back on bills and we are still $3500 short of being able to pay for the funeral.

Family Pictures

Thank you, Ken, for being so considerate of our family and dad's dignity! We will cherish these time capsules forever!

www.kenmccray.com

Our Hope Endures

Dad has taken a grave turn yesterday afternoon. Paralysis is beginning to set in and Dad is no longer able to walk on his own, if at all. This is caused because the cancer is growing on his spine. Hospice is bringing in a hospital bed today to help keep him comfortable.
He woke up at 3:00am to use the bathroom and then we all sat around dads bed and listened to a quiet CD (The Shadow Of Your Wings by Fernando Ortega) and just held his hands.
He made it through the night and is very peaceful and restful this morning.
We are staying by his side and keeping him comfortable. Mom is holding up well so far. She is running on adrenaline, knowing she has to take care of Dad right now. I am sure she will crash later.

I will continue to update when I can.

"Our hope endures the worst of conditions. It's more than our optimism. Let the Earth quake our hope is unchanged." - Our Hope Endures by Natalie Grant

God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

A Quick Update

Friday afternoon Dad was able to come home from Hospice. (Steve, your timing was appointed! Thank you for the help!) They readjusted all of the medicine he came home from the hospital on. The new medicine is much better for him and he is happy with it. He was able to eat solid food while he was there. Mom (and all of us, really) were able to get some much needed rest while dad was there and were rejuvenated when he got home.

Yesterday, dad took a new turn. He started acting on his hallucinations. He was back in the bedroom sleeping (we have a baby monitor in there so we can listen for him). He woke up, heard us talking in the other room and thought someone was breaking in. He got out of the bed, grabbed moms jewelry and "hid it". He couldn't remember where he put it, so we searched the house over only to find that he had put it in a "hidden" pocket in his gym shorts! sheesh!

Then last night he messed with his feeding tube and got up and walked around in the middle of the night.

We decided that now is the time for him to be a little more sedated. The hospice nurse is on her way now to help us decide how to do this. It is a hard decision to make, but we believe it is for his good.

His hands and feet are turning white due to poor circulation and he is in more pain yesterday and today than in the past. He has morphine to help relieve this.

Mom's birthday was yesterday. She had good day, and we decided to have her birthday celebration this afternoon. I am cooking dinner and making her favorite cake.

Mom is handling the whole situation with great strength. She is well rested and she has someone here with her 24/7 to help out.

I just want to say a personal THANK YOU to Aunt Barbie, Courtney and Mike for coming to mine and Todd's house and helping us get things in order. Our house got a little out of control since I have been spending so much time here with my dad. Only the closest of friends would do what ya'll did! LOVE YOU!

Now, for a personal favor. I so enjoy writing this blog and keeping all of our family and friends involved. However, now that we are closer to the end of this journey, I am finding it harder to update as often as I have been.

Please just know that dads status is not going to be changing too much at this point.

I also need to say that I have enjoyed receiving your phone calls and updating you all personally as you call. But, I am at a point right now where I can't emotionally do that anymore. Plus, we are trying to spend as much time with dad as possible. Please, know I am "typing" this with the purest intentions and do not mean to "blow anyone off". I just need to take a break from being "the updater"!!! However, I will update every couple of days or when something of note happens. (And I will definiely update later with pics from moms birthday celebration!)

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!