quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
Thank you for commemorating Wes with the rifles section! I will make sure he knows about it!

Anthony and I are at PDX right now waiting for our flights. This is a report from "Wood" this morning:

He said he really loved hearing the 6 Pages of support (four pages from M14forum and two pages from Sigforum) from the guys. I'm happy to read more... ...After getting platelets he is feeling pretty good,...

...they (the platelets) last a day or so and then his O2 and immune system slide back.

Last night we talked a bit and he was in tears about how much you guys mean to him and how much you have lifted his spirits. We[s] went from "I'm dying please let me die" To "I can't wait to get back to the range."

I think Tony coming out really [h]ad an impact on him. Wes being Wes said he felt guilty about how much it must have cost to fly out on short notice. He always puts other people first. He is a huge hearted guy and loves his friends more than he does his own life.

I told Wood to check back on this page and to read any new comments that are posted after I left. So although we have left, we do have Wood there to keep Wes updated.

I took a screen shot of the "Mason-Howe" page and told Wood to share that screen shot with Wes.

Yesterday was such a heavy day for all of us. I've never had a chance to say goodbye to a loved one the way I did with Wes. Now that I'm not posting on my phone, I can elaborate a little more on what happened yesterday.
First of all, Wes was like a different person completely from the Wes we saw on Wednesday! He was very out of it on Wednesday and we pretty much just watched him sleep. He could only get out a couple of whispers.

By Thursday (after draining 1.2 liters of fluid out of his lungs and getting platelets) he was way more alert and coherent. He could almost talk like normal. I put a couple of people on speaker phone and let them talk to Wes. Also, my daughter felt compelled to have one last visit with Wes as well and she skipped out on her classes yesterday to give Wes one final visit.

I then began reading messages from you all. As I was about half way through reading the messages, I made the mistake of looking up. Everyone in the room was in tears. Well then "the allergies" hit me and I was struggling to read the rest of the messages. I can't express enough how moving it was for him to hear all of your messages.

After that, Wes' sister showed up and we all shared some stories and laughs together.

When it was time to go, we each said our final goodbye's. It was tough, but we all felt we gave him a proper send-off. I think we were all in a fog for the rest of the day and we needed a night to clear our heads.

We're now on our way home and we've asked Wood to take it from here. Thank you, Wood, for being there for him and for us. You are a great man and Wes appreciates your friendship very much! He spoke very highly of you!
Tony.