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Siobhan, I loved your father so much. I don't know what to say, but I feel like he went to watch over Michael till I get there. I don't know if I'm making sense or not. All day I've just wanted to die, but now. I am so sad your Da is gone from us, but the news of his passing is about the only thing that's given me any sense of hope. I hope that doesn't sound crazy. But your father was a great man, one of the greatest men I have ever known and we never met in person, and I know he would find Michael and take care of him for me. I know he would do that for me. Oh God, Siobhan, I never knew there was such pain. I haven't been able to pray today, but I can pray for your Da and you. Pray for me and Shelley and the kids. Please. Your father was a great man and a greater saint. This is the saddest day in my life, the saddest. Pray that I can do or say what Shelley needs to hear to get through this, and the kids. I love them all so much, and I really don't know what to do or say. I'm sorry for your loss, Siobhan, but I know Greg will take care of Michael for me, and if it is any comfort to you, I'm sure Michael will make your Da happy. Michael had such a beautiful laugh. God bless you, Siobhan. Give my love to your mother. May God give eternal joy to your father, and may light perpetual shine upon him.

In the midst of your suffering you have remained a man of faith, Oxford, and that makes you one of the greatest of men. You know how much Da cared about you and your family. I have no doubt that he and Michael are together since they both were welcomed into the arms of Jesus and the embrace of Mary our Mother this very day. You are right that my father would watch over Michael for you. I do not know how things work in the Paradise of Christ, but we know that Jesus is caring for them both and loving them both and rejoicing with both of them.

Michael's life was short, but it was not insignificant. It was of the greatest meaning not only for you, Shelley, and your family, but it was of the greatest value for Jesus, Mary, the saints, and all the angels. I'm sure that Jesus said to him, "Michael, three years of bringing joy to your parents and then bearing this illness unto death. Extraordinary, Michael. Extraordinary. Well done, good and faithful servant." You are in my heart, and I hold you in my prayers, and all you have to do is freepmail me, and I will do anything to help you, to listen, or to cry with you or pray with you. May the love of Christ the King and the tenderness of Our Lady Help of Christians surround you and support you through the days to come. Amen.

I never knew there was such pain. Pray for me and Shelley and the kids. Please. This is the saddest day in my life, the saddest. Pray that I can do or say what Shelley needs to hear to get through this, and the kids. I love them all so much, and I really don't know what to do or say. Michael had such a beautiful laugh.

Dear, dear OxfordMovement! My heart breaks as I read these lines. I wish I could say something to ease your pain or suggest what to say to Shelley and the kids. I will pray for little Michael that his beautiful laugh may continue to ring with the angels in Heaven. And may the Lord keep you and Shelley and the kids safely in His Sacred Heart.

Please remember Our Blessed Mother, who underwent such a pain, as she watched Jesus die on the cross. She too weeps for your family, even as she holds little Michael in her arms. She's with you in this trial and she keeps you close to her Immaculate Heart.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord makes His Face shine upon you. The Lord looks at you with kindness, has mercy on you and grants you peace. Amen.

Prayers are coming for both of you.

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume.................................It is [the Apostle] Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.
~~Vance Havner

"In the designs of Providence there are no mere coincidences" -- Pope John Paul II

We can all take comfort in knowing that there are two more intercessors in Heaven at a time when the world grows more and more crazy around us. We are truly blessed.

'Twas (St.) Michael who cleared a path for HM. Mike can join with our son Maximilian (RIP 1/7/01) and another newly-crowned saint, Evan, (RIP 6/8/02). You, Oxford, are one of a VERY few fathers who already have a saint interceding before the Throne of God.

In paradisum, deducant te angeli; in tuo adventu, te suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam, Jerusalem. Chorus angelorum, te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro, quondam paupere, aeternam habeas requiem.

This text is set by both Durufle and Faure. The edge goes to Durufle because of his leaving of the 2nd of the scale on the word 'aeternam;' the chord never resolves (that is, it portrays eternity.)

Shaw/Atlanta Symphony does both, I believe. Worth purchasing for a real lift at this time.

I will continue to keep you and your family in my prayers.

Words aren't always necessary, don't hide your sorrow but by your actions let everyone in your family know that they still matter to you. Don't shut them out because your other children will need lots of reassurance. Just be there for your family and let them be there for you. You all will be stronger through this if you help each other.

BTW, I only live a few hours from EP so if there is anything at all that I can do to help just let me know.