A sad day......

I have these very dear friends, Mert & Norma Snow. They are 83 and 84. I have known them since March 1980. I was 6 months pregnant with Andy and my first husband was recovering from ostomy surgery that he had in December. We needed a place to live out in the Applegate as Mike was getting ready to return to work at the Forest Service. Well we got their name from a Realtor who told us they had a house for rent on 12 acres by the river. Well it turned into the most wonderful friendship. We lived next door to them in the cutest little red house. And while Mike worked long hours as a fire fighter, I was not alone with my new baby boy because Mert and Norma were their keeping an eye on me.
Fast forward ... we have stayed in touch all these years and Mert helped me find mom's mobile home in their park when my dad was dying of cancer ( he only live there 14 days)
I try to call and check on them every couple of weeks and I knew they had taken a trip south of Reno to visit their daughter about a month ago. Well I called Monday evening to see how the were ( Norma has had quite a few medical problems lately) but Mert faithfully went to "Work out and swim" at Waterford. Norma informed me that they brought Mert home from the hospital that day and that her daughter and daughter in law were there taking care of them. I asked what was wrong with Mert and Norma told me he was diagnosed with liver cancer. Well all of this has happened in less than a month. Norma has some memory problems and didn't have many details so I asked her to have her daughter Stephanie call me. ( I always try to go to the hospital when ever Mert and Norma have had various surgeries (back, hip,bypass...) So Steph and I are well aquainted.
When I didn't hear from her that night I called Tuesday morning and talked to her , what she told me knocked the wind out of me ! Mert has less than 2 weeks to live !! I raced out there after work yesterday only to find Steph & Barbara exhausted and trying to change the bed under Mert's 6'2" 225 frame. He is unable to even help move himself and was in a hospital bed in the living room. I stayed for 3 hours and did everything I could to help . Norma didn't seem to grasp how bad he was and asked if I thought he was getting better...... Mert when he did talk still was sharp as a tack, rattling off names and phone numbers when needed , medications , what they were for when to take them . But he got progressively worse while I was there. I had to leave at 9:00 to come home and get ready for work today. Mom went early this morning to see if she could relieve them to get some sleep, but no. They are waiting for Stephs brother Darrell ( Barbs husband) and her husband Rob and son to arrive by tomorrow morning.
I was headed out there after work tonight and must have been in the middle of the worst lighting storm... Dodging broken tree branches, couldn't see from the rain... decided to just get myself HOME.
I had talked to Stephanie around 5:00pm and he was declining rapidly, unresponsive and not eating or drinking today

I know he is OK with what is happening, he and Norma are Christians and know where they will be going when they die. He at 84 lived a great life and was a WONDERFUL man, I love him dearly and was not prepared for this so soon....... I don't think I will be seeing him again in this life. And it still makes me feel sad to loose him.