“All my trials, Lord, soon be over”

This is Rick’s brother, Mike, with this update. I know that all of you have been wondering how Rick is doing these days since his posts have gotten less and less frequent. I open this post with a beautiful video and incredible voice of Joan Baez because of the ability of music and art to touch us in ways most human endeavors can’t.

Joan’s angelic voice elicits in most of us powerful and tender emotions as she sings this lovely folk song, based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed as she comforts her children. The words also express a time we knew was coming for Rick, but we hoped somehow it would be delayed for much longer. Still, that time has now arrived.

Rick stopped eating about two weeks ago due to the severe pain he experienced when food made its way to his stomach.

These days, Rick spends most of his time sleeping. The pain medication he is taking relieves most of the pain, but leaves him very tired. And while the medication causes some mental confusion, he is generally comfortable and still interacts with his wife and visitors with the same humor and concern that has always defined his relationships.

Since both Rick and his wife, Peg, both come from large families, there has been a steady stream of visitors wanting to show Rick what he means to them.

As the days of Rick’s life become fewer and fewer, however, Rick and Peg’s desire is that the number of people visiting at any one time be limited to just a very few. This is understandable as Rick still wants to listen to and be part of conversations that are taking place around him, but his medication doesn’t give him the capacity to comprehend multiple conversations. At one point last weekend, a discussion I was a part of with a few others became so intense that Rick needed to leave the room and go to bed. The discussion was one that Rick would formerly have loved to be involved in. This was a poignant indication of how mentally difficult it is for him now.

This illness has proceeded incredibly quickly. It has been just four months since he was first diagnosed. Perhaps the most remarkable fact of his illness is that he has harbored the seeds of his demise for over four decades, yet once those seeds sprouted, their destructive power ravaged Rick’s body in a very short time.

Yet, even in this short time, Rick has had the opportunity to express some of his deepest and most profound ideas about life and death.

I, for one, feel greatly privileged to have been able to read and comment on his writings here. But, more importantly, I feel greatly privileged to have been the brother of Richard Thomas LaMartina, who–as anyone who knows him his discovered–is a truly extraordinary human being.

I will continue to update his condition here and want to thank all of you who have followed Rick’s journey home. I know that your friendship and support has been extraordinary and a great solace to Rick during the final months of his life.