"The Next Place"

The Next Place is an inspirational journey of light and hope to a place where earthly hurts are left behind. An uncomplicated journey of awe and wonder to a destination without barriers.

Lose yourself in the uplifting sense of comfort and serenity. Embrace the joyful spirit of oneness. Then pour yourself into the lives of those you love.

The Next Place is, above all, a celebration of life. Hear the music. Feel the warmth. And be carried away along life's everlasting flight.

The next place that I go will be as peaceful and familiar as a sleepy summer Sunday and a sweet, untroubled mind.

And yet...it won't be anything like any place I've ever been...or seen...or even dreamed of in the place I leave behind.

I won't know where I'm going, and I won't know where I've been as I tumble through the always and look back toward the when.

I'll glide beyond the rainbows. I'll drift above the sky. I'll fly into the wonder, without ever wondering why.

I won't remember getting there. Somehow I'll just arrive. But I'll know that I belong there and will feel much more alive than I have ever felt before. I will be absolutely free of the things that I held onto that were holding onto me.

The next place that I go will be so quiet and so still. That the whispered song of sweet belongings will rise up to fill the listening sky with joyful silence, and with unheard harmonies of music made by no one playing, like a hush upon a breeze.

There will be no room for darkness in that place of living light, where an ever-drawing morning pushes back the dying night. The very air will fill with brilliance, as the brightly shining sun. And the moon and half a million stars are married into one.

The next place that I go won't really be a place at all. There won't be any seasons--winter, summer, spring or fall--Nor a Monday, Nor a Friday, Nor December, Nor July. And the seconds will be standing still...while hours hurry by.

I will not be a boy or girl, a woman or a man. I'll simply be just, simply, me. No worse or better than. My skin will not be dark or light. I won't be fat or tall. The body I once lived in won't be part of me at all.

I will finally be perfect. I will be without a flaw. I will never make one more mistake, or break the smallest law.

And the me that was impatient, or was angry or unkind, will simply be a memory. The me I left behind.

I will travel empty-handed. There is not a single thing I have collected in my life that I would ever want to bring except the love of those who loved me, and the warmth of those who cared. The happiness and memories and magic that we shared.

Though I will know the joy of solitude...I'll never be alone. I'll be embraced by all the family and friends I've ever known. Although I might not see their faces, all our hearts will beat as one, and the circle of our spirits will shine brighter than the sun.

I will cherish all the friendship I was fortunate to find, all the love and all the laughter in the place I leave behind.

All these good things will go with me. They will make my spirit glow. And that light will shine forever in the next place that I go."

One day after Nicholas ascended to Heaven, following is what we shared on his website's journal.

There is so much of Nicholas to share and there is so much love filling our hearts fighting the piercing pain throughout every part of our bodies and the deepest parts of our being. Including Nicholas' last day with us all in body, the love from Nicholas and the love from so many (seemingly representing everyone near and far), there are stories of love filling our hearts and minds.

Right now we want to share a piece of Nicholas' last physical day with us all. It is a moment with family and friends. Imagine, everyone from everywhere who helped to welcome Nicholas back to California shortly after 12:45 am on May 25, 2006. His brothers, grandparents, uncles & aunts, cousins, neighbors, playmates & their parents, teacher, friends he met along this journey, and amazingly his doctors, nurses, & other hospital staff from all three hospitals that have been part of Nicholas' life. Yes, around 1:15 in the morning they (you) were there! And yes, throughout the rest of the early hours and throughout the day up to 12:52 pm on May 25, 2006, they (you) were there for Nicholas.

The moment that we will share is the reading of a book, "The Next Place" by Warren Hanson, that was given to Nicholas on May 24, 2006 by his doctor (Dr. Gore) at The Children's Hospital-Denver while in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) as we prepared to be flown home to California. Dr. Gore and all of the nurses who had been around Nicholas during our stay in Denver stayed with Nicholas and mom & dad from the time we entered the Emergency Room at 1:30 am on May 24, to 9:45 pm on May 24 when we left for California. The reading of the book was with everyone from everywhere present in Nicholas' ICU room. (The book's illustrations are amazingly vibrant.)