Dear All,

It is with tremendous sadness, emptiness and helplessness that we have to share with you that our sweet Nico passed away peacefully this morning.  Ray and I cuddled and caressed him during the last hours of his short, beautiful life.  Andre was there to hold his hand and say his good-byes, as were Nico's grandma (Oma) from Germany and his uncles Marko and Eric.

Harborview Medical Center was the best place for Nico's care. Thanks to the efforts of the Harborview medical team, we had precious extra time with our beautiful boy. As painful and scary as the past two months have been, all along we were holding on to hope, hope that even a portion of our beloved Nico would come back to us.  Although we'll never know, we want to believe that, while Nico could not communicate with us in any way, he felt our presence and the blanket of love that enveloped him, both by his bedside and from the hearts of family, friends and the community.

A Celebration of Nico's Life will be held Saturday, October 27th at Butterworth Funeral Home on Queen Anne.  Viewing is from 10am to 12pm, immediately followed by a service.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Nico's gofundme page at https://www.gofundme.com/3963k-help-for-nico-luiggi, and Harborview ICU Patient and Family Needs Fund, http://www.acceleratemed.org/give/#/.

“If tears could build a stairway

And memories a lane,

I’d walk right up to Heaven

And bring you back again”