In the end, it was his fully conscious decision: No healthcare proxy needed to be invoked. He was tired of fighting, and just wanted to move on. (Like my own Dad, who passed away at age 92 last year about this time. May God ever bless and rest him!)
At his request, the doctors withdrew all life support systems, put him on a morphine drip, and withdrew his oxygen supply. He died peacefully and painlessly, with his family gathered around him, fifteen minutes later.
He will be terribly missed. But life goes on — for him, and for us.
In the words of a very great Saint: "It is in dying, that we are born again to eternal life."
Thank you so much, dearest sister in Christ, for your very kind words of sympathy.
It is so hard to let them go, but it is comforting when they make the decision themselves.
I look forward to meeting him down the road.