Rob's Email

I am very sorry to be the bearer of the saddest of news, but Leigh's
remaining days on the earth are now being counted in hours. Please continue
to pray and think of her. She is not in pain, she is surrounded by family,
and we are all saying our goodbyes.


Sunday, October 16, 2005

I was a very lucky man. By random chance, I found a buddy for life, to be
my wife, who was so very good to me.

I could go on and on about this, but I will share just one example. I am an
insomniac. Before I met Leigh, there where one or two nights each week
where I did not sleep at all and every night I struggled to fall asleep.
Insomnia is a very lonely business because you know everyone else in the
world is sleeping while you lay awake. It feeds on the anxiety of being the
only person awake and the anxiety then ends up keeping you up all night.

Leigh had a trick to fix my insomnia. She told me, every night for 10
years, that she would wait for me to fall asleep first, no matter what. She
would make a big show of it, declare that she was not at all tired, prop
herself up in bed with pillows and read a book. On the nights that it took
me hours to fall asleep, she would be right there with me pretending to not
be tired. Most nights, just the knowledge that I was not the last person to
fall asleep in the world or the only person awake was enough to put my mind
at ease and I eventually found it very easy to fall asleep. This was a
selfless gift to me from Leigh; one of many.

Last night, her mother, father, brother and I waited in her room for her to
die. Her condition had been worsening and her breathing was labored. Fluid
was quickly filling her lungs and her temperature was extremely high.

Yet, she persisted.

I stepped out at around 2AM with Leigh's brother to take someone in the
waiting room home, and her mother and father who were sitting in her room
dozed off momentarily... she saw that her work was done and she let herself
go to sleep one last time.

The hospital has recommended an autopsy so her body will be traveling to the
coroner's office. From there she will be sent to a mortuary where her
remains will be cremated per her wishes. She did not tell me what to do
with them, so I'm just going to keep them near

A