This was posted today's on Miles' site. I can't add anything to it more regarding a mother, father, and sister's grief than they do, so I am reposting the latest update as they have:
August 19, 2007
This is the update you are dreading: Miles' earthly body has left us....early this morning. This is the day we've been dreading since June of '05, but fearing it would come and now it has. We did everything humanly possible to arrest this disease. Our efforts were not enough. There are no interventions currently available that could have produced a different outcome. Hardly a comfort. We were able to buy time, and good time it was. Miles went from a boy-man to a man-boy. At a cost that would knock your socks off, Miles still managed to pack a wallop. He could not and would not be held back.....from living life to the fullest. He so wanted (that it hurt) to taste the fruits of freedom, of adulthood, of the world, and yet they were denied him. This is the agony that has a grasp, a stranglehold, on our hearts. The irony of his absence, when under ordinary circumstances he'd be gone now anyhow - to college - has not escaped us.
Talk about destiny, G-d's plan, purpose, anything you want, but the fact is that our boy, our beloved son and brother, was snatched from us, and it hurts. We knew it was coming, yet we're shocked. We knew it was coming, yet we're unprepared. We knew it was coming, yet it feels unreal. We knew it was coming, but we hate it.
Sunday morning. Miles should be having pancakes with Nina right about now. Instead, the three of us are wandering around wondering what to do with ourselves. Pacing has become my specialty. We do have some plans in place: a very small, immediate family only funeral; a big memorial/celebration down the road to commerate Miles; and, a lot of crying.
It is suggested that those who wish to further honor the memory of Miles Levin do so by making a contribution to, "UJF Miles Levin Fund", (address below), a newly established tax exempt fund designed to support existing efforts to combat pediatric cancer as well as providing our family a vehicle to create new directions in patient care. Cards and expressions of thoughts and feelings are always welcome. We ask that if you feel an inclination to send food or flowers that you transfer that impulse to our new fund; it would be more satisfying to us to know that honoring Miles means helping another family.
At the moment, there is little consolation for the serious war we fought when in the end, we lost our warrior. We aren't ready to look at the legacy, the divinity, the gift. We're grieving the loss of our child and brother. The best advice I can offer anyone wanting to provide comfort is this view: this stinks, plain and simple.
Nancy, Jon, and Nina
UJF - Miles Alpern Levin Fund
P.O. Box 2030
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303
Attn: Susie Feldman
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UPDATE:
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Miles is featured on CNN:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/08/20/obit.miles.levin/index.html
A tribute to Miles will be on Anderson Cooper's show tonight at 10pm. CNN ran reports during the day and crashed the CarePages server for a while. That's the influence of Miles....
Miles's sister Nina left a poignant tribute to her brother today:
http://www.carepages.com
(Please note that you have to register to visit the CarePages and look up Miles Levin).
A snippet from her post:
..." September 23, 2007
HEARTBEATS
We were lying side by side, his warm hand cradling mine. The soft, loose skin of his hands was slack around his bones. My ruddy fingers emphasized the yellowing shade of his skin. His knuckles bent slightly to accommodate my hand as it rested in the crevice of his. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady. I felt conflicted as I gazed at his weak and dying skeleton. Though I wanted him to remain forever in his body, I wanted equally as much for his spirit to break from its cancerous prison. ..."