Death & Dying

CAUTION: Sensitive material...read at your own discretion. Have a friend who was the best mechanic in the area, but he was a rough and tough guy. A lot of people avoided him because of his language and his reputation. Most of the rumors were true. He was an alcoholic , but the rumor was that he drank a case a day. Not true. He did BUY a case and a bag of ice everyday, but he didn' drink a case....as soon as his beer got between cool and room temp he pored it out and got a cold one. He just liked to get high enough to laugh a lot and get to sleep easily. 8 mos ago he was diagnosed with lung cancer...given 3months. He took chemo and that may have helped, but those of us who knew him, knew it was his sheer will that kept him going. He worked until he just couldn't. Didn't close the shop until almost two weeks ago. Stayed alone except for one friend who came and fixed his coffee at 7am and I visited around 4pm and stayed until he got ready for bed....which got earlier and earlier. On Sat. he couldn't drink his coffee...and couldn't eat. No one else stepped up to the plate, so I started staying. His brother and a friend relieved me on Thurs. morn for a 2hr nap. After that I stayed for the duration. The hospice nurse taught me how to use the atavan and morphine. At 10pm he started "the rattle" and at 11pm he sat straight up struggling to breath. I pumped him full of morphine until he relaxed. Nurse said I couln't kill him unless I pumped the whole bottle in....he lasted until 8:30. Another friend was scheduled to relieve me at 7am so I could get a nap but I told him I wanted to stay cause he wasn't going to last long. He called the family and the room was full by 8:15. I was so afraid he would start to struggle but his breathing just kept getting slower and slower until it stopped. I was so relieved and so happy that I had done it "right". No more scrap from him, but that's one "customer" I don't mind losing. It's only the friend I'll miss. We're having a memorial service tomorrow. We honored all of his requests except that one. It's for us. His name was Eudon but half the town called him "undone". If he didn't like your looks or what you were wearing he might not do the same job as he would if he liked you. Sad, but true. His ex said he would fix elderly ladies cars so they had to keep coming back, but I don't know about that. All I know is that he had redeeming qualities...too many to list. So...that's all I have to say about that. RIP Eudon Holley !