David Shapiro — February 19, 1947 – November 23, 2023

First, just to get it out of the way, if there are people who don’t know — David Shapiro passed away suddenly on Thanksgiving night. We had just returned from two wonderful weeks in Paris with Alex, Claire, Theo, and Vincent. On the Friday night before we flew home, David complained about back pain. He had had compression fractures in the past, so I wasn’t really worried. We spoke to doctors via video, and they prescribed a back brace and some pain management.

Fortunately our flights on United were flawless. We were home and I made an appointment with our doctor on Wednesday. The Doctor sent us to get x-rays of his back to confirm what was going on. While getting David from his wheelchair to the car, in the parking lot of the radiology clinic, he passed out and I lowered him to the ground. Fortunately, we were across the street from a firehouse. He was in an ambulance very quickly. I followed and we were in the ER for the remainder of the day and night. David was finally admitted to the hospital overnight. Even after the Doctor told me his back pain was kidney failure it never entered my mind that David wouldn’t be home in a few days.

He had a rough day and they were having trouble getting blood and hoping he would be able to get well enough for dialysis. Late in the day, I left him to take a nap and grab a bite to eat. I got a call at around 11pm from the hospital that there was an emergency and I should get there as soon as possible. By the time I arrived, he was gone.

I am now back in Paris with Alex, Claire and the boys.