Tribute: Tony's Final Farewell

Thank you for joining us to celebrate
the life of, the one and only,
TONY ENG
(1946-2008)
Sunday May 11 at 3PM
at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church
(Douglas & Broughton)

Thank you to all who patiently waited to give your
love, hugs and warm stories at our tea reception.

In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully requests that you,
instead, consider a donation in Tony's memory through the
charity, MAGICANA to the Tony Eng Tribute Fund.

The Final Curtain

Friends,

Please forgive our long delay, but after a long and difficult battle, complications have made the unthinkable, a reality. I'm completely heartbroken to share that our dear Tony was taken from us on Sunday afternoon at 4.26 PM.

We are completely devastated by the loss.

We still cannot believe that after the incredible battle he fought, our invincible superman was force to concede on May 4, 2008 - just 25 days short of his 62nd birthday. We take solace in knowing, that he at least passed peacefully, with his beloved partner, Ann, by his side.

It has been the most horrible two-weeks watching Dad fight so damn hard. And I know, he tried. He tried harder than any guy could, but they just kept changing the rules on him. As he conquered one thing, another problem surfaced...then another...and then another. He was fighting blood infections, bowel infections, and all their complications -- not to mention that all the while, his leukemia and Merkel Cell cancers were spreading viciously through his poor, battered body.

You know there is no other guy who would fight harder for his wife and his family - but even heros have their limits. Dad always went above and beyond and, I know, he gave this one more than his usual 110% -- but still, it wasn't enough.

How much can a man be asked to give? Well, typical Tony gave it all for us...and for that we will never forget his amazing strength, courage, generosity and love.

You been with us all along the way - the ups the downs, the highs the lows - and we can't thank you enough for your love and support. It is thanks to your words of encouragement that we have been able to cope with these very difficult times. We are especially grateful to all of your for thinking not only of Dad but of us. From emails, texts and calls, you have shared so much sage advice and words of wisdom. You have all been so concerned for our well-being -- we feel so fortunate to have such a supportive group of family and friends looking out for us.

Many of you have expressed your condolences and I just want to say how much it means to our entire family; your generous words and abundant outpouring of love for Tony has brought great comfort to us all. We will post information on his memorial very soon, here on the blog. Please help us share this information for those who do not blog or email.

In the meanwhile, the family has agreed to keep the legacy and spirit of Tony alive by asking, in lieu of flowers, you consider a donation in Tony's memory to either Magicana (www.magicana.com); or, to a yet-to-be-determined fund to benefit a racquetball-related
program or tournament in Tony's name. Because Tony's deep passion for both magic and racquetball we feel these are fitting tributes to honour his memory.

As most of you know, I'm the Executive Director of Magicana which is a charity dedicated to sharing magic as a performance art. Our site (www.magicana.com) allows you to make online donations and receive a charitable tax receipt. Funds collected in Dad's memory will be directed to a youth program to teach underprivileged children the art of magic. Though we currently do not have the details for the racquetball fund, we will post the details on this blog, and eventually, onto his website.

On behalf of my family, I sign-off with a heavy heart and with our deepest thanks,

Julie
for Ann, Sandra and Suley

Don't forget to laugh...

The last two days have been like a bad roller coaster ride.

Dad has shown amazing strength and you all know how much of an athlete he is, but even this superman has been put through the ringer. His blood is still infected which means it's giving him difficulties elsewhere such as increased tiredness. It also means that his blood is not working properly so several measures must be put in place - like giving him blood components like platelets and albumin - to give Dad some comfort and to give his body a chance to absorb the antibiotic and hopefully fight off infection. He is fighting more and more small battles as his immune system is so stressed and we are seeing some issues such as fluid retention.

He did have some fluid from his lungs drained over the past two days and that has seemed to improve his breathing. He was zonked out big time on Wednesday as a result.

As dire and dark as the picture is drawn we were graced with a window of light last evening: Since Dad was so tired from the minor procedure for the draining, he did rest well for most of the day. He woke up while Julie had the Dad-Watch and while Sandra and Grandma took Suley, Aunty Joan, and Mum out for some food. He was rested, and as a result was feeling quite good. We got him through some of his liquid diet and then he got quite chatty. The infection, and perhaps some of the morphine is now affecting his cognizance and his mind is working on another level now. He’s not always quite with it, but believe me, he sure knows all his dirty jokes still! We read a few more emails and he laughed and rolled his eyes at all the fun comments, goofy jokes and happy memories.

Sandra, Suley, and mum got back while he was in the middle of this happy period. He was singing a little of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” and “We Are The Champions” and was also reciting a bit of one of the magical effects called “Stan, Kate & Edith”. He had us in stitches.

It was something we’ll all cherish. It was good to catch that magical moment of Tony’s infectious sparkle.

The evening ended, however, with Dad experiencing a really bad tummy ache. He’s also contracted a bowel infection, which causes moments of terrible discomfort now and then. Mum comforted him until he settled down – all the while he kept insisting that “those damn kids” were setting off stink bombs again. You can’t help but giggle.

So yes, it’s still awful to see Dad struggle with all these problems and yet he reminded us all that the best medicine, indeed, is to laugh a little. When thinking of Tony, don’t forget to take a healthy dose yourselves!