He is Vu Nguyen, a friend and colleague at the Daily Breeze who inexplicably collapsed Sunday while taking a victory lap after scoring the winning goal in a soccer game. His heart stopped, but got going again with the help of CPR and, now, a ventilator. But the damage was done to his brain. Little by little, his brain is slowly quitting. His chest rises and falls with each machine-induced breath and he lies, looking peacefully asleep. All his parents can do is watch, and share and receive stories about his too-short life. Married only six months ago, working hard to cover the education beat, always snazzy in argyle sweaters, polite and enthusiastic - that is, or was, Vu. Within days, once his brain seizes functioning at all, his family will make the painful decision to turn off the ventilator. Until then, they wait. And like everyone who knows Vu, they pray for a miracle.
I will miss Vu and my heart aches for his family. Dressed in a clean smock and blue latex gloves, we stood at the foot of his bed and I could only think: "How would I handle this?" I don't think it would be as good as them. It's unthinkable, what I was thinking.
When I picked the kids up tonight from school, the emotional weight of the day heavy on my body, I wanted to hold them and not let go. Holden, despite having his own kind of emotional night, wanted to spend the last part of his day cuddling with me. As we, appropriately, sang Circle Game, he put his arm over me and held on to my ear, then held my hand.
I brought his small hand to my mouth and kissed the soft skin with all my might and all my love.
*Update: Vu passed away on Friday night, not long after I wrote the above.
