IN LOVING MEMORY
Coby Tyler Johnson
October 19, 1999 - May 14, 2000

Wednesday, May 17, 2000
10:00 a.m.

Services Performed By: Rev. Lee

God...
will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be
no more.

Coby passed away on Mother's Day-May 14, 2000. 

My husband didn't think I should update this site with the tragic news.  We don't want Coby's death to diminish any hope other parents with an HLHS child have.

We enjoyed every moment with our son and we would make the same decisions all over.  We do not regret choosing the three surgeries.  Without the first operation, we never would have saw Coby smile or laugh.  We would have missed so much.  We got to hold Coby, feed Coby, change Coby, watch him play with a toy, watch him follow us around the room and most of all we got to watch our son grow into a cute chubby baby for almost 7 months.  There are many parents who never get to experience what we did and that is how we are surviving.

My husband and I planned a very special funeral for Coby.  It was our way of showing everyone who atteneded what a special child Coby was.  Please take the time to read the songs and eulogies. 

My dedication to my son was reading my own eulogy and my husband expressed his love by carring his son to the car and then to the grave.  We decided not to have a hearse carry such a tiny coffin.  My husband sat with the coffin on his lap as the car drove to the cematary.   

This is a poem my step-sister found on the internet and printed the poem in the program that was handed out at the funeral.

Getting Tired

God saw you getting tired,
A cure was not to be,
So He put his arms around you,
And whispered "Come with me."

We watched you suffer
And we watched you fade away,
Although we loved you dearly,
We could not make you stay,

A golden heart stopped beating,
Hard working hands at rest,
God broke our hearts to prove
He only takes the best.

It's lonesome here without you,
We'll miss you more each day,
Life doesn't seem the same,
Since you've gone away.

When days are sad and lonely,
And everything goes wrong,
We seem to hear you whisper,
"Cheer up, carry on."

Each time we see your picture,
You seem to smile and say,
"Don't cry, I'm in God's keeping
We'll meet again some day."

The Rev. Lee is an extra special person in our eyes.  We choose him personally to do Coby's funeral.  He lost his own granddaughter to HLHS in November of 1999.  He knew what our son went through and was the only one  we felt could do the best sermon for our son.  He knew how hard Coby fought and what Coby had to endure in his short life.