I was there in the hospital when Ward commiteted himself into the future of Hospice.  I was numb at the time but later on the flight home I reflected on that moment and wrote this.

Ward’s Last Words

His lips barely moved, with weakened voice

He knew what he was doing when he claimed

Hospice, to be his very last choice

He was letting go of the raging battle within

By letting go of the life-raft called hope

He was letting go of all that could be and might have been

By letting go of all that had passed by, all that was and had been

He was letting go of his grip on life, to slip beneath its surface,

Committing his body to the deep, far below the waves

Committing his soul to the sky, high above the winds

And his spirit to we who remain, between and behind.