Serenade for a dying son

Here’s your daily dose of sweetness and heartbreak.

It’s Chris Picco of Loma Linda, Calif., playing music for his dying son.

Chris’ wife, Ashley, died shortly after delivering her son by C-section on Saturday.

The YouTube description picks it up from there:

Lennon’s lack of movement and brain activity was a constant concern for the doctors and nurses at Loma Linda University Hospital, where he received the absolute best care available. During the pregnancy, Ashley would often feel Lennon moving to music so Chris asked if he could bring his guitar into the NICU and play for Lennon, which he did for several hours during the last days of Lennon’s precious life. One day after filming this, Lennon went to sleep in his daddy’s arms.

He wrote on his Facebook page yesterday:

Dear friends, family, and supporters; it is with an unbelievably heavy heart that I write this. My little fighter, Lennon James Picco went to sleep in his daddy’s arms late last night. He was surrounded by family, friends, and the best doctors, nurses and hospital staff in the world. He was dressed in an outfit that Ashley bought for him, with little guitars on it, and wrapped in a blanket made by a dear friend. I am so thankful for the four unforgettable days I got to spend with him. His mommy would have been so beyond joy to see him and to hold him, touch him, bathe him, sing to him – as I have had the privilege of doing. I have been so blessed and honored to love him before he was formed, to cherish him while mommy carried him, meet him face to precious face, and hold his perfect little body while we said “goodbye for now”. There are no words, but I wanted to keep you updated, as your love and support has meant more than anything in the world. All you need is love.

There are some things, the depth of which we cannot possibly begin to understand until the moment when someone says “it’s a boy” or “it’s a girl.” That’s just the way it is. We cannot possibly begin to understand. We think we can. We think we do. But we can’t.

That’s just the way it is.

Photo: Chris Picco