Ben, came into this world on September 1st 1991. He was the second of 3 boys.
Ben was a very fun loving child who loved to sit on your lap and was content to just be with you. When He was 1 we moved to Sun Prairie Wisconsin, to our new house on Pony Lane. Ben loved to play in the big back yard with his brother Michael. The two of them were inseparable when they were younger. It was fun watching them grow as boys and brothers. In 1994 Ben's little brother Aaron was born and one more boy was added to the mix. My three Sons.
When he was little he began to play soccer with some of the kids he had meet at school. This soon turned into football as he got older and teamed him up with one of his best friends Cody. Cody and Ben were always together, playing ball, basketball, football, anything that came to their minds. Cody had a little brother Colin who was the same age as Aaron. The five boys played all the time, except when Ben and Cody had to go to football.
Ben was also very active at our church. He sang in our Cherub Choir, and later Youth Choir. Loved to be in the Musicals that the Youth Choir would put on in Church. He liked to perform and sing, (as long as he thought no one was watching him)
As he moved through his younger years, he found a passion for cooking. His Grandma Kay liked to have him come to her house and help her with all of the big meals she would plan. Whether it was Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, she could always count on Ben to be her su chef. We all would tell him that he would make a great chef someday. In middle school Ben teamed up with another friend Jonny. They would go to Church camp together, and do many other things.
Ben liked to play baseball, golf, football. He loved being with the other boys and being part of the team. He also enjoyed playing the Violin, and got his own instrument for Christmas in 2004. It was a lot of fun to watch him play in the Orchestra. Ben was a great kid, and we loved him very much.
In October of 2005 not long after his 14th birthday, Ben had a bad day. We really don't know what lead up to it or why he did what he did, but Ben decided to take his own life. The hours that followed at U.W. Hospital, proved to be very overwhelming. Being with Ben as he laid in his hospital bed, wondering what was going on with all kinds of machines hooked up to him, was very scary. Then the Doctors came and told us that he was not going to make it. His brain was shutting down. Watching your son lay in a hospital bed, breathing and heart beating, knowing that he is never going to hold my hand again was the hardest thing that I have ever had to go through. I can not get the image of him in that bed out of my mind. It is there every day. By 3:00 in the morning on October 11th 2005 most our family had made it to the hospital to be with Angie, Mike, Aaron and me to be with us and to say goodbye to Ben. The doctors told us they had one more test to do around 8:00 am that would be the final determination for brain death. We all gather together in his room and said prayers, out loud and in our hearts as the morning moved along. At 8:12am on that day my son left us forever.
I do not understand nor do I know why, Ben a 14 year old boy with a whole life ahead of, him did what he did. All I know is that, he was loved and will continue to be loved by me, his mother, his brothers, and a great many others. I will never forget our time we spent together, playing ball, golfing, going to stock car races, or just lying on the couch watching a movie. There has not been a day when I do not miss him and cry for him. I know that he is with God and is happy, but I wish more, that he was here with me and his mother. That feeling can never be replaced.
I have made this web site to let everyone know that Ben was loved, and is missed, and will never leave our thoughts and our hearts.
Ben will be in our heart everyday, forever.
Jon, Angie, Mike and Aaron
