Every year I would dress up as Santa and pay Aaron a visit. That was so much fun to see the look on his face every year.

Aaron was 4 years old when we went out for the first time for trick or treats on Halloween. He was a little shy and we only went to about five homes. That sure changed over the years to more and more homes and longer walks.

In 1988 I got Aaron a toy lawn mower that blew out bubbles as he pushed the mower along. He loved to follow me when I cut the lawn. That same year I got him one of those battery powered trucks that you sit in and drive about 3 mph. He just loved that truck and within a few days he could move along real well. I would walk and he would drive it six blocks each day to meet mom when she got off the bus from work.

In 1990-91 I did some photography for the fire department. We would make visits to the Minneapols Fire Department and the guys went out of their way to spend time with Aaron. He got to sit in the fire engines. One time the chief turned on all the lights on his car. Aaron thought that was real cool.

One time I drove an old fire truck to a fund drive Sears was doing at a mall. Aaron was with and we had to pick up Ronald McDonald. I had to drive him to the other side of the mall with the siren on to met all the other kids. Before we drove Ronald McDonald over to the kids he spent a few minutes with Aaron. He made him some special animals with the ballons and gave him a hug and pat on the back. Aaron was the happiest person in the world. I wish you could have seen the look on his face. Truly a great memory.

When Aaron was in second grade (age 7) he was playing with his yo-yo when he wasn't suppose to in school. His teacher took it away and Aaron was told he would get it back at the end of the school year. Aaron was not happy with that. He went over to see our neighbor who just became a lawyer. Aaron told him what happened and said I have 25 cents. Will you help me out? Our neighbor thought why not, I'll play along. So he wrote a short note on letter-head stationery and explained he was hired for 25 cents to get the yo-yo returned to Aaron. His teacher got a real kick out of it too and Aaron got his yo-yo back.

Aaron had a love for animals and over the years we had a few. We had a cat for a while we had a turtle, bird and then our dog Scrappy who Aaron picked out when he was 8 years old.

A few times I took Aaron to see my truck that I drove for work. He would sit in the truck and blow the air horn. (I'm a truck driver in the metro area.) When he got older he went to work with me a few times and road with me, something he enjoyed.

In 1994 Aaron came with me when I got a new car. As the years went on Aaron was always with me when it came time to get a new car or pick up truck. I let him pick out the color and when he got older he picked out the rims and radio and cd system. We enjoyed that time together and I miss that a lot. Next year I want to get a new pickup and it won't be the same without him there.

We spent a lot of time playing video games on his Sony Play Staton. That was always a lot of fun. We also spent a little time at the gun range with my hand gun. Aaron became a very good shot and at times shot better than me.

Aaron was real proud that I served in the Army and he was proud that I received some medals during my tour of Viet Nam. When Aaron was in elementary school every year he wanted to take the medals to school for "show and tell." When Aaron died I had my Purple Heart Medal pinned on him. He was very proud of that medal and I felt it should be with him.

A friend from work has a pilot licence so in 1995 we rented a small airplane and we took Aaron up for a first time flight. He was sure nervous and a little worried. We had some turbulence and that didn't go over too good with Aaron. But for the most part he enjoyed the flight once he got use to it. We were able to fly over our house and his school so he thought that was cool. Aaron was 11 years old at the time.

Aaron was 13 when I started to teach him how to drive. By the time he got his licence he was a real good driver. I also taught him how to shift a manual transmission and after a few hours he got the hang of that. I use to take him out where I worked so he could practice driving. There was lots of room there for him to drive. I was proud of his driving skills and respect for the law.

In closing I want to say that the best times were buying cars , a camper and going camping. One of the best trips we had was to Mt. Rushmore in 1995. The next yeat we went to Montana so Aaron could see the mountains. I have so many fond memories of us camping, it was just the best of times. In the winter of 2001 we traded our pull trailer camper for a new 5th wheel camper. (That had been in the works for about two years.) We picked up the new camper and went camping on May 2, 2001. That was the only weekend Aaron got to camp in it. Aaron died two weeks later. I'm so glad he got to camp one weekend in it. I still have the camper but it's really hard at times to camp without Aaron.

Aaron had a short life but what a great 17 years we had full of beautiful memories. As parents we were blessed with Aaron. I'm glad I could share some fun memories with you.

By: Steve Edquist