Wednesday, September 22

We have made arrangements as follows:

Visitation - 4-8pm on Friday, September 24 @ Cedar Memorial Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids, IA

Funeral - 10am on Saturday, September 25 @ St. Matthew Catholic Parish in Cedar Rapids, IA

Visitation - 5-7pm on Monday, September 27 @ Paul Young Funeral Home in Mt. Healthy, OH

Burial - 10am on Tuesday, September 28 @ Oak Hill Cemetery in Glendale, OH

We have also blocked some rooms at the Homewood Suites in Cedar Rapids, IA for Friday night. They have 2 double queen suites at a rate of $139 and 6 king suites at a rate of $129 - please just mention "Brian Raver" when reserving. The hotel phone number is (319) 378-1140.

Please just let us know in case of any questions.

Tuesday, September 21

Paul fought hard for the past 15+ months and passed away today at about 5pm. He went peacefully with no pain or distress. He took his final breath in comfort and with family by his side. We will miss him, but know that he is now in a better place.

We're in the process of making arrangements and will post the details as soon as we know them. We all appreciate your continued thoughts and prayers.

Paul continues to hang in there, as he is a very strong man.  He had another seizure last Thursday night, and they feel that he is now in the final decline.  It may take weeks, but he is no longer eating any food or drinking any water.  He still has his moments where he will say something quite funny.  He sleeps most of the time now and isn't too interested in his sports any more.  We know he is declining when he doesn't care much about the Reds, Bengals or Purdue.  He is not in any pain, and he looks very peaceful.  Sister Mary Lou told me the other day that she believes he is more with the Lord than with us at this point.  One of the nurses told me that a patient said to her one time that being at the Hospice House is like being on the front porch of heaven.  It is the best place for him to be right now because it is so peaceful, and they take excellent care of him. We continue to spend many hours a day with him, and my brother, Jim, is here again to help out. This is just a funny picture when we caught Jim catching a few zzzz's along with Paul, his Theta Chi fraternity brother.

Paul has had many visitors at the Hospice House but Labor Day weekend brought very good friends from Finland, Bengt and Gerd Lindholm.  We enjoyed spending time with them again, and Paul perked up when Bengt showed him videos of the granddaughters. 
He had a rough day on Tuesday, having six seizures and a possible stroke.  Today Brian and I are waiting and working at the Hospice House to see if he will come out of this spell, or what the future will bring. Andy was here for several hours yesterday, and is only minutes away.  Jeff is checking in regularly, but is now back in Georgia doing regular duty.  Paul is resting very comfortably right now, and he looks very peaceful.  We are praying that he will not experience pain and will continue to be at peace.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support us through these tough times.  We will try to update the blog as we are able to learn more.
Carole