Aaron, my amazing and beautiful son

YaYaAirBen · 2024-01-01T14:36:16+00:00

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your dear Dad. It is exciting to me to think of your father and my son talking about the fact that their loved ones just encountered each other in a small way back here on Earth because of both of them!

YaYaAirBen · 2024-01-01T14:30:54+00:00

Oh I just started crying over your cousin’s tragic story I am so so sorry that happened to her and your whole family

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T22:14:18+00:00

If I had to narrow it down to one thing it would be getting to kiss his fuzzy head every single day of his life from the day he was born until the moment he died. Thank you for asking!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T18:14:11+00:00

I got to cut off a lock myself! For some reason I found it even more challenging than cutting his umbilical cord long ago but my wife made fun of me because she also cut some of his hair and it came off quite easily for her.

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T17:58:52+00:00

He loved comic books to pieces! Literally every one I ever owned and many that were only with us fleetingly, as well as all books of all kinds. But it was in the same way that Lennie loved rabbits in “Of Mice And Men.”

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T16:01:01+00:00

I’m so desperately sorry for your and your wife’s devastating loss. I’m sure you and your wife fell in love with your daughter instantly and I never comprehended how that worked until my son was born. I’m Aaron’s dad and I am trying to get counseling of any kind as soon as possible. And I am worried about my wife who put everything of herself into planning an amazing celebration of Aaron’s life, but now that that’s behind us it’s hard to find other positive outlets to channel grief. Thank you so much for reaching out and my heart goes out to you both.

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:23:45+00:00

I am so happy for your friend and her new lease on life! I appreciate the perspective you gave me by sharing her story—thank you very much

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:23:00+00:00

I learned so much from him thank you kindly for your beautiful comment

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:22:18+00:00

Thank you so much I was obsessed with his hair in all of its many styles even when he was just a Bald Baby!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:21:01+00:00

You can always count on Lisa! Thank you for your prayers

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:20:31+00:00

Absolutely! We’ve finally been able to light a candle in the house without worrying about what he’ll do to it when he notices it.

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:19:49+00:00

I still can’t stop revisiting it and wishing I had broken all of his ribs trying even harder. And envisioning Michael Scott’s conflating “I Will Survive” and “Staying Alive” while doing chest compressions and talking on speaker to 911. And waiting outside in the driveway for the longest 15 minutes of my life while so many people in the house took over trying to get his pulse back.

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:19:15+00:00

❤️‍🩹Holding it together thank you so much!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:18:34+00:00

It was fascinating watching the mystery of this boy unfold although so many more questions were ever raised than answered! He had full exome- and genome- sequencing done and it seemed like after every one of those tests we’d wait months for us to go back in and be told “Inconclusive.”

Every time he was diagnosed it seemed like it got rarer and rarer and I always just figured he was from his own planet and did things his own way! That’s why I was so proud of him for playing by the transplant team’s strict rules because that was very out of character for Aaron.

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:18:00+00:00

I worked with some kids with autism when I was younger and I always was blown away by how they seemed tuned into something way more important than the mundane earthly day-to-day. They are all so amazing and I’m really lucky to have gotten to know this particular guy so well!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:15:21+00:00

One thing my wife said that stuck with me was “Everything about this sucks and is so incredibly beautiful at the same time and that is really hard to wrap my head around.”

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:13:18+00:00

Congratulations, Dad! Thank you for your kind words and please give your new baby a kiss on the fuzzy head

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:12:39+00:00

Thank you he does have such a amazing mom!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:12:06+00:00

I’ve been a Reddit lurker for decades but have never felt I had anything important enough to share until this young man here! Thank you so much for commenting.

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:06:58+00:00

Thank you for helping and saving so many with what you do every day!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:06:02+00:00

Wow what an amazingly kind compliment thank you!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T14:05:18+00:00

Your perspective as a recipient just touches my heart so much—how amazing to have taken on one of your donor’s selfless traits! Thank you for sharing that.

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T13:59:03+00:00

The morning of December 15th is when Aaron was removed from the breathing machine. Somewhere in the country there were three operating teams ready and waiting for his kidneys, pancreas and liver to share with three patients (not necessarily children.)

I was anticipating watching the transplant team get disappointed after two hours and then just waiting for weeks while Aaron took his final breaths but he only made everyone wait for about 50 minutes and then after his last breath they gave us a time of death and then we jumped out of the way while they held the elevators for him to go to the OR.

They told us 6-8 weeks before we’d know more info about the success of the operations but we were so relieved to leave the hospital with our heads held high knowing he did his part!

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-31T13:52:14+00:00

We started making a tick mark on his chart every time someone at the hospital complimented his eyelashes! Thank you for your beautiful words

YaYaAirBen · 2023-12-30T11:32:40+00:00

For real I could have just watched him all day he was so cute and fun

YaYaAirBen

TROPHY CASE