Ethan Robert Featherstone

"Ethan lived a beautiful and eternally meaningful life for the 15 years that the Lord gave him to us. He is now standing straight and tall in the presence of his beloved Maker. He was preceded by a sweet baby and left behind a host of forever impacted family & friends!

Father & Mother: Daniel & Joanna Lopez

Brothers: Caleb & Benjamin Lopez

Biological Father & His Wife: Anthony & Breanna Lopez

Sisters: Bella & Mya Lopez

Maternal Grandparents: Robert & Virginia Featherstone

Paternal Grandparents: Tony & Eysa Lopez and Catalino & Sonia Lopez

For those of you who do not know Ethan's story from beginning to end, Danny & I would like to share it with you.

I grew up in a loving & caring family, with a father & mother who loved the Lord, seeking to impart His love to me. Still, though my conscience knew what was right, my heart had no desire for it. At the age of 20, I became pregnant.

But God, in His great & perfect mercy, wanted me for Himself, and chose that circumstance to show His perfect love to me! He called & I responded, choosing to take the responsibility for my actions. God birthed a joy & love for the baby inside of me from the very beginning. And on March 1, 1999, I gave birth to my "Tiny Sunshine," Ethan Robert.

He was a treasure from Day 1! He was quiet & happy as a little baby, but blossomed into a beaming, gregarious & active little boy! He never failed to shine his happy smile on everyone he met! He would also gladly talk your ear off or involve you in his latest imaginative game.

At the age of 4, I began to have questions about his development. He had never been able to jump, neither up, nor over even small objects. He had always had a super-athletic build, with very muscular calves. Yet, he couldn't run fast or jump. His pediatrician felt he might just be developing slowly on a physical level. However, I continued to have questions and finally set up an appointment for a consultation with a physical therapist.

That appointment resulted in a visit to Miami Children's Hospital for a consultation with a neurologist. The bloodwork came back with a confirmed diagnosis of Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy. Duchenne's (DMD) is a boy's only neuromuscular disease in which the DNA is missing the muscle rebuilding protein, dystrophin. Thus, instead of rebuilding with use, the muscles just continue to break down, ending in either lung or heart failure. The disease is always fatal, by medical standards, typically between the ages of 12 - the mid-20s.

It was a shock, but the Lord filled me with unexplainable peace & rest. Ethan was 6 at the time of the diagnosis, and was already exhibiting marked signs of his disease. Besides the exaggerated calf muscles, he had begun to walk with a swinging gait & arched back, due to the shortening & tightening of his leg muscles. So I chose to make the most of time he had left with the ability to walk. With the use of the homes of some dear friends, we were able to take several trips to experience summer in New Hampshire, fall in Pennsylvania (with family) & New Hampshire, Thanksgiving in New York City with a dear friend, and early summer in Alaska! Those are memories which all involved will always cherish!

Through all of this, Ethan's attitude never changed. He was always dealing with pain, but you never heard a complaint. He was always full of bright smiles, fun & love, bringing everyone he met happiness, drawing even perfect strangers in with his sweetness!

In 2007, the Lord brought back into our lives, an amazing man, Daniel Lopez. The Lord perfectly chose the right man for the job of husband & father in His choice of Danny for us! Danny & I were married in January of 2008. Ethan was his "bestest man," joining us at the front in his wheelchair.

The journey from there has been a precious unfolding of the Lord's love as He made us into a family! Ethan & Danny had loved each other from the first time they met, when Ethan was 1. It just continued to blossom as we became a family.

The years passed, the disease progressed, his body became twisted, his pain became greater & greater, but you rarely heard him say anything about it! Instead, he drew people to him with his love & easy friendliness. He became a big brother 3 times, preceded to Jesus presence only by a sweet little one whom we know he has now met & given hugs from us! He was a sweet & very patient big brother to Caleb & Benjamin, always ready to sword fight, build Legos, and participate in their imaginative games. He was always giving, whether with encouraging words or cards that he painstakingly labored over for hours.

In December 2012 he had his fist bout with pneumonia & his first hospital stay of about 5 days in Palm's West's amazing PICU unit. There he befriended his nurses & respiratory therapists, leaving with many new admirers. In July of 2013, he had a second bout with pneumonia, and a second hospital stay of about 10 days. He continued to make fast friends of his nurses & respiratory therapists. His sweet, sunny attitude was a blessing to everyone he met.

In October of 2013, the Lord led Ethan to beautiful profession of the faith that had been being birthed in his heart! At that same time, the Lord led Danny & I to contact Ethan's biological father. That introduced into our lives a precious family whom we are so thankful to have shared the rest of his life with!!! Ethan received new Life, was baptized & got a second family all in one month! He was ecstatic!

From that time forward, his love, his sharing & giving, and his profession of love for Jesus, began to pour out of him onto everyone he came in contact with - from friends & family, to nurses, paramedics, perfect strangers!

His third hospital visit to Palm's West came just after Thanksgiving 2013. It was a two week visit, from which he took a long time to recover even a small amount of the lung function which he had prior to the visit. Yet he came home singing and praising and loving, happy in Jesus! He began to listen to alot of Hillsong worship music, spending the majority of his days loving his family & friends, and praising his Creator.

Then, Wednesday, February 26th, he began to have some cold symptoms, which seemed to get better, then worse, then better. We celebrated his 15th birthday on March 1st with family, even though he wasn't feeling well. It was his special request that we proceed with the celebration & enjoy on his behalf the things he couldn't enjoy because of his lung difficulties!

By the afternoon of March 2nd, however, his breathing had become labored & we called 911. The paramedics arrived, and through a long & traumatic experience, during which we almost lost him once, then DID lose him once, he was intubated and began his final hospital visit in the Palm's West PICU. In that difficult state, sedated & unable to communicate except by signs & head shakes or nods, he still poured forth what was in the depths of his heart. We have a precious video of him, under sedation, drumming and mouthing the words to Phil Whickam's song "This Is Amazing Grace." What was inside could not help but come out!

On March 9th, the doctors said there was nothing more they could do for him & we moved him to the hospice in-patient unit at West Palm Beach Hospital. He continued to bless everyone who came to visit & express their love to him with smiles, small written "I love you" messages before his hands were too weak to write, hand holding & insistent sharing of Izze drinks with everyone who came. He blessed his hospice nurses as well! Danny & I have so many precious memories from this time (and all his hospital visits) with him! We had precious times with family and friends, singing over him & blessing him! The Lord's presence was so strongly with us & in his room even though he was often asleep due to the morphine.

On Tuesday morning, March 11th, I felt in my heart that it was time. We spent the day with friends there & also alone times with him. Then at 8, we had a time of prayer & praise over him, with the Lord leading each person present to speak over him blessing & to share with him what he had meant in our lives! He opened his eyes only a few times during and after that precious time, but I am sure he heard our words! I told Danny later (and he felt the same) that I sensed we were ushering him to the gates of heaven! We were, because not long after we finished, his numbers (blood oxygen & heart rate) began to fall quickly! My parents, Danny & I stood around him, holding his hands, kissing & verbalizing our love to him as he flew to be with his Healer!

His passing was as beautiful as his life & we were abundantly privileged to share in it all! He was a treasure, from the authoring to the finishing! His Author has finished the good work He began! We rejoice in His goodness! He does all things well!

Ethan, our "knight in training," fought the good fight, he kept the faith, and there is now a crown of glory on his head as he stands tall and straight in the presence of his King! His life has touched hundreds and we pray it may continue to touch many more, leaving a legacy of lives changed by the One who changed him!

Please visit our Facebook public page: https://www.facebook.com/EthanRobertFeatherstone

Arrangements under the direction of Dorsey-E. Earl Smith Funeral Home, Lake Worth, FL.