From Casey's sister Allison (right)
"Thank you for your prayers. They were greatly felt. I appreciate you all! My brothers MRI came back... he has extensive brain damage. We will be taking him off life support soon and he will be tested to donate his organs. He will live on by saving others. Casey will no longer suffer from the anguish that drug addiction causes and, for that, I am grateful. Thank you again for praying for my family. I love you!"
And from Brian;
"Thank you everyone who sent prayers, thoughts and encouragement for my brother, Casey. The response was overwhelming, and I appreciate that. I'm sorry to say that we have lost my little brother. He is suffering no more.
I remember him as a cute, tow-headed boy who always asked me to play cars with him. Goodness, he was an adorable little boy. When he was four, I took him to see Pocahontas. Big brother and little brother at the movies together. He loved it, as did I.
I even wrote a column about him when I worked for a newspaper in high school: how innocent he was and how much joy he brought to our family back then. If I find it, I'll post it. What I wouldn't give to turn back the clock 20 years .......
Lord knows, I wish we could have done more to get him off the destructive path of drugs. Addiction destroys lives, I tell you. Destroys them. But he's no longer in pain and no longer feels hopeless. He's in peace. And he's brought my family together in a powerful way.
Please continue to pray especially for my mother. She's taking this extremely hard. Thank you."
It would seem as the geographic distance between family members increase, we tend to only see one another at weddings and funerals. I saw my cousins at a wedding a couple of years ago. This is not the funeral I would have ever imagined.
Thank you one and all for your prayers and words of support and comfort.