Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 Goodbye Zio

At 11:30 p.m. Italian time (4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time) our Zio Corrado (also known as Zio Qua Qua, and Zio Diablo) left us. This photo of him at Christmas 2009 is most appropriate. Beside him is his nephew Fabio Taddei. Fabio was with Zio in his final moments.

Zio Corrado found out in late December that he had terminal brain cancer. I got the pleasure of going back to Marina di Pisa and staying with him for 12 days. The hardest thing I have ever done was to say goodbye to him that final morning. I knew I would never see him again on this Earth and here he was telling me he loved me and in June we would travel together to Assissi

In January, he received radiation treatments for his cancer. It did reduce the brain tumors, but it was also found that the cancer had spread to every organ but his heart. I guess his heart was just too strong for something like cancer to take root in it. I know he shared that heart with us all.

Two weeks ago he went to hospice with pnuemonia. He managed to survive thru several crisis with his breathing and his lungs. His body may of been willing to leave but his mind was determined to stay. Finally in the past 2 days, it got to be too much. He was given morphine to take the pain away and be able to slip quietly away from us all.

Goodbye Zio until we meet again. I love you.
Arlene