Aaron, ILHoosier as I called him "IL" for short - he and I joined Peegs at the same time in the early days, he was 'IL' for Illinois, which is where we both grew up, I was in StL at the time and took MO for Missouri. He followed Peegs when the split happened and I obviously stayed here. We figured we could hit both sides that way, which really never turned out to be any kind of advantage.
He left us in the early morning hours last Monday, peacefully in his bed. His Mom, my sister, left me a cryptic voice mail which rattled me, I tried her back and she didn't answer so I became more concerned. I sent her a text and called my brother to see if he knew anything that was up, he didn't, then she called me back but was very quick to get off the phone and said that she would have to talk to me later. I sent her a forceful text at that point that I was very concerned and to please tell me what was going on. She texted back that when she went in to get him up and get him a drink that "his cerebral palsy is gone. I can't believe he is gone". I knew what this meant but like her, I was in shock as well.
Aaron was born on a cold, wintery evening back in December of '77. His mom, my 19 year old sister, was 6-months pregnant and a drunk driver hit her car from behind on main street of our small town, forcing her into the steering wheel and the result was her son being born 3-months premature at 2.2 lbs. The next few hours were a blur and I'll keep it short, just to say that the coroner saved IL's life but crucial oxygen was absent to his brain in those vital moments. This caused severe cerebral palsy, which we didn't really notice until he was about a year and half old, as his motor skills were not advancing. We were hit with the devastating news that he would never walk and would be severely handicapped physically. I was 13 and probably due to just ignorance, I said "so what, he's my nephew and I'm going to treat him like I would if he didn't have CP". My brother, 3 years older than me, and I just did the same things we would with any other young nephew, we included him in everything, however we had to - football, basketball, baseball, Mike Tyson boxing, you name it, he was involved. His Mom and Dad did exactly the same, his entire life. He's seen more sporting events and concerts than anyone I know. My senior year at IU, we contacted the basketball office and asked for a wheel chair seat for him. If you remember back in those days, Knight (due to his relationship with Landon Turner) was adamant about having the wheelchair attendees to sit right on the floor. We got tickets to the Acie Earl Iowa game, 2/21/91 if you want to look it up. I was able to sit directly behind him, and the experience was surreal for the both of us, but especially for him at 13 years old. After the game, we went down toward the locker room and Calbert Cheaney was coming out and stopped and talked to us for a couple of minutes. It was a moment that lasted a lifetime. Aaron became the biggest Indiana Hoosiers fan in the history of the program. He had always liked them from a distance and knew Knight was a great coach, but this experience did him in. From that moment, every birthday, Christmas, etc was IU gear. Over the years he and I did several Assembly Hall games together, a game at SIU during the Sampson years and the preconference tournament at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates back in '07. For 30 years, we have walked this Hoosier experience arm in arm. All the years I was traveling for work, he would keep me informed. I remember the afternoon C. Zeller was making his decision. I was flying to Corpus Christi and would be in the air when he made his choice, so I told Aaron before I departed that he had to bring this one home, this is big and we can't miss on this one. When I landed and got coverage, my phone lit up with 'MO CZ IS A HOOSIER!!!!!!!!!!' I'll never forget moments like that, that he and I shared. I had no better partner to travel it with.
Being the oldest grandchild, he had a major impact on our family and hundreds of others throughout the years, and even though he was limited to his wheel chair, he lived life to the full - always a smile, never forgetting a name or birthday, incredible sense of humor, and a great conversationalist. He was a 4.0 student in high school, tried college but couldn't do the long hours in the classroom due to the stress on his body and had to drop out. Physically, only his first finger on his right hand worked, so when he was typing on the other end of a message, you had to be very patient. Living life with this gentleman was quite humbling to say the least. He taught me more than anyone I've ever known, including my Dad. We've talked everyday since the internet came around, using Slack in the past few years has been great. He would greet me every morning with 'gm mo'. Man, have I missed that message the past 3 days. His funeral is next Monday, not sure how I'm going to do it, letting him go for the last time. My only solace in all of this is that he is free of that tasking body of his, and secondly that my sister has been released from a very tough life of mental, emotional and physical stress, none of which she's even aware. I should mention she's the greatest special needs Mom in the history of the world. No offense to all of you special needs parents, as you all are the best as well I'm sure. These two people, Aaron and his Mom, are simply better than me. I could tell story after story of what they've been through in the past 47 years that would both piss you off and make you cry, but neither of them ever uttered a word about any of it. They just got up and did it, every day.
Here's to my nephew, my favorite Hoosier fan, and my best friend - Aaron Lee. Coach DeVries is going to need your help this year, so we're expecting some miracles. Don't let us down! I love you Bub, thanks for all the good times, and I'll see you on the other side!
MoHoosier
He left us in the early morning hours last Monday, peacefully in his bed. His Mom, my sister, left me a cryptic voice mail which rattled me, I tried her back and she didn't answer so I became more concerned. I sent her a text and called my brother to see if he knew anything that was up, he didn't, then she called me back but was very quick to get off the phone and said that she would have to talk to me later. I sent her a forceful text at that point that I was very concerned and to please tell me what was going on. She texted back that when she went in to get him up and get him a drink that "his cerebral palsy is gone. I can't believe he is gone". I knew what this meant but like her, I was in shock as well.
Aaron was born on a cold, wintery evening back in December of '77. His mom, my 19 year old sister, was 6-months pregnant and a drunk driver hit her car from behind on main street of our small town, forcing her into the steering wheel and the result was her son being born 3-months premature at 2.2 lbs. The next few hours were a blur and I'll keep it short, just to say that the coroner saved IL's life but crucial oxygen was absent to his brain in those vital moments. This caused severe cerebral palsy, which we didn't really notice until he was about a year and half old, as his motor skills were not advancing. We were hit with the devastating news that he would never walk and would be severely handicapped physically. I was 13 and probably due to just ignorance, I said "so what, he's my nephew and I'm going to treat him like I would if he didn't have CP". My brother, 3 years older than me, and I just did the same things we would with any other young nephew, we included him in everything, however we had to - football, basketball, baseball, Mike Tyson boxing, you name it, he was involved. His Mom and Dad did exactly the same, his entire life. He's seen more sporting events and concerts than anyone I know. My senior year at IU, we contacted the basketball office and asked for a wheel chair seat for him. If you remember back in those days, Knight (due to his relationship with Landon Turner) was adamant about having the wheelchair attendees to sit right on the floor. We got tickets to the Acie Earl Iowa game, 2/21/91 if you want to look it up. I was able to sit directly behind him, and the experience was surreal for the both of us, but especially for him at 13 years old. After the game, we went down toward the locker room and Calbert Cheaney was coming out and stopped and talked to us for a couple of minutes. It was a moment that lasted a lifetime. Aaron became the biggest Indiana Hoosiers fan in the history of the program. He had always liked them from a distance and knew Knight was a great coach, but this experience did him in. From that moment, every birthday, Christmas, etc was IU gear. Over the years he and I did several Assembly Hall games together, a game at SIU during the Sampson years and the preconference tournament at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates back in '07. For 30 years, we have walked this Hoosier experience arm in arm. All the years I was traveling for work, he would keep me informed. I remember the afternoon C. Zeller was making his decision. I was flying to Corpus Christi and would be in the air when he made his choice, so I told Aaron before I departed that he had to bring this one home, this is big and we can't miss on this one. When I landed and got coverage, my phone lit up with 'MO CZ IS A HOOSIER!!!!!!!!!!' I'll never forget moments like that, that he and I shared. I had no better partner to travel it with.
Being the oldest grandchild, he had a major impact on our family and hundreds of others throughout the years, and even though he was limited to his wheel chair, he lived life to the full - always a smile, never forgetting a name or birthday, incredible sense of humor, and a great conversationalist. He was a 4.0 student in high school, tried college but couldn't do the long hours in the classroom due to the stress on his body and had to drop out. Physically, only his first finger on his right hand worked, so when he was typing on the other end of a message, you had to be very patient. Living life with this gentleman was quite humbling to say the least. He taught me more than anyone I've ever known, including my Dad. We've talked everyday since the internet came around, using Slack in the past few years has been great. He would greet me every morning with 'gm mo'. Man, have I missed that message the past 3 days. His funeral is next Monday, not sure how I'm going to do it, letting him go for the last time. My only solace in all of this is that he is free of that tasking body of his, and secondly that my sister has been released from a very tough life of mental, emotional and physical stress, none of which she's even aware. I should mention she's the greatest special needs Mom in the history of the world. No offense to all of you special needs parents, as you all are the best as well I'm sure. These two people, Aaron and his Mom, are simply better than me. I could tell story after story of what they've been through in the past 47 years that would both piss you off and make you cry, but neither of them ever uttered a word about any of it. They just got up and did it, every day.
Here's to my nephew, my favorite Hoosier fan, and my best friend - Aaron Lee. Coach DeVries is going to need your help this year, so we're expecting some miracles. Don't let us down! I love you Bub, thanks for all the good times, and I'll see you on the other side!
MoHoosier
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