Thank You

Mom, Dad and I would like to say thank you for all your love and support. It's hard to believe our Michael is gone. It's been eleven days now, and wow, it's hard. It's REALLY hard. We knew the day would come, and yet, we still have difficulty wrapping our heads around it. It doesn't feel real and I think of a line from a U2 song..."I can't close my eyes and make it go away." I've heard about people going to text or call someone they've lost and thought, "no way", but I literally went to text Michael the other day and had to put my phone down and let the tears roll.

We've had wonderful texts, emails, posts on blogs, FB messages, phone calls, voicemails, from family, friends, friends & co-workers of Michael's, people we didn't even know - it's amazing how many people our M reached. Please know that we are getting them all... we hear you and we read every comment and listen to every message. Honestly, sometimes it's just hard to answer the phone or respond. We are still raw.

Read some of them here:
https://www.shaughnesseybanksfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Michael-J--Whyte?obId=12499556#/obituaryInfo
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/michael-whyte-obituary?pid=195776347&affiliateid=417

But, see how lucky we are? And, we got to see our Michael through til the end. We held him. We caressed his head. We lay in bed with him. We washed him. I laugh, and maybe you will, too...the last few days his dexterity was gone. So one day after bathing him, I noticed a "bat in the cave" and I said, "well, Mike (I didn't say this in front of Mom, it's always "Michael" in front of her!), I gotta pick your nose" because I knew he couldn't. So, I did. And would you know, over the next few days whenever Michael woke up, his hand would go to toward that nose to "scratch" it (sure, Michael, "scratch" it and not "pick" it...I know what you were really trying to do!!!) But those moments and memories, as tough as they are to think about, they give us gratitude. We were literally with him at the very end, which not everyone gets to do with a loved one...we had the opportunity to send him to Heaven. For that, we are grateful.

Just a few things to share:
- PLEASE, we thank you, but we are OK with food and supplies. Especially in light of what's going on, we are well-stocked (thank you, Mom!) with supplies...take care of yourselves!
- SERVICES: Michael asked that his remains be cremated and with the ongoing pandemic, we have no date for a service at this point. Honestly, that has made things a bit more difficult in terms of mourning/closure, but we will work through it
- Pam and her team at Shaughnessy-Banks Funeral Home have been WONDERFUL and so supportive of us throughout this whole process.

Thank you for all your feedback about Michael's obituary (thank you, Darren R. for your assistance) and this blog - it helps my family and I deal with this all and remember our boy, our son, my brother, Michael J. Whyte.

Do a Michael Whyte-ism today and call an old family friend or rock out to some Billy Joel!