Aaron's Story in Verse

During this period, our seven-year-old son, Aaron, was taken seriously ill with a rare form of the cancer known as Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Although he fought long and hard to beat this dreaded disease, he finally succumbed to the illness and passed away on July 13th 1998. His death has given me the inspiration to write his story, expressing my feelings and the events of the last year in these verses.

They cover all emotions from happiness to sadness, laughter and tears, reflecting the roller coaster ride we have experienced. Reading this story will make parents feel understood and empowered, no matter what they are going through. We also hope it will inspire other people who are in a similar environment to give them the strength to cope and relate to what we have gone through.

Our normal family life being turned upside down for nine months. Aaron was to spend most of the time in the Birmingham Children's Hospital with his mother. Norma had to give up work, to be beside him, to give him support whenever it was needed. I had to juggle work, hospital trips, and household responsibilities..

As you can appreciate, this was a troublesome time in our life. It was to be a test of our mental strength, a test of survival, which, sadly for our only son, it wasn't meant to be.

These verses are how I remembered this sad journey in our lives.

About The Author

I am Aaron's dad. As far back as my school days, writing has always seemed to be one of my strengths. I started writing verses in my teens, mainly for girlfriends on birthdays. I continued to write verses throughout my life, when inspired by events that have occurred. These included things like the birth of my children, deaths of close relatives and marriages where I have been a best man or a spokesperson. Having gained a reputation for writing verses, my family looks forward to me writing verses when a special or moving event occurs.

Regarding writing this book, the inspiration came from the most devastating event in our family, which was the death of our eight-year old son Aaron. Yet from the depths of sorrow this book has emerged, it started with me writing the eulogy for his funeral. The favourable comments from the mourners encouraged me to continue writing and made me decide to treat Aaron's death in a positive way. This gave me a new purpose in life, to overcome this tragedy and assisted me in coping with the grieving process.