The Final Lesson

Epilogue

The lessons that we learned on our bike tours served us well during Lukas’ illness. Sadly, our little son was unable to ride up that last hill. His liver, which never worked properly, stopped making clotting factors. On Christmas Day, the 41^st day of his life, Lukas started bleeding. Early morning the day after Christmas, we received the call we’d dreaded and rushed back to the hospital. His blood pressure was almost non-existent, and our poor son was pale and ghostlike despite constant transfusions. It was clear that we had to let the bleeding stop.  Despite Lukas’ grave condition, his eyes opened, and he welcomed us. His big, beautiful, blue eyes looked from side to side, and danced with us one last time. He said goodbye in the only way he could.  Lukas was dressed in baby clothes for the first and last time, wrapped in blankets, and placed in my arms for the first and last time. We held Lukas, told him we loved him, and he died in our arms. 

Lukas left his imprint on our hearts and lives; we are forever changed. The lessons learned while biking have been augmented by those learned while living with, loving, and losing our son. Lessons of patience, strength, and bravery. Lessons of self-reliance, but more important reliance on each other, our families, and our friends.