18, Aaron. Holy shit, kid (calm down, you're 18 in about 5 hours, I can curse in front of you now, plus, I've had a couple drinks, my language is a bit loose). You're an adult. You're old enough to drive, you'd be looking at college or technical school, or backpacking across Europe in a gap year, or whatever weird thing kids are doing when they turn 18 these days. You'd be a person. A complete, fully realized, adult person.
That's weird, kid, gotta admit.
So, 18 is hitting your mom and I kinda hard. The idea of you at 18 is really blowing our minds. We were just barely not kids ourselves when you were born, and now we're talking about you as an adult. It's amazing to think about.
As you well know, we've done a ton of work with, and fundraising for, the March of Dimes; donated money and goods to community health centers; donated craft goods to a local moms and babies' hospital for siblings of newborns; collected toys, pajamas, and games for local hospitals and community charities at Christmas, and raised money for the NICU that you spent practically the entirety of your 33 days of life in. We've worked hard to live up to the lesson that your legacy is the one we make for you. That's why we thought, and thought, and thought, and overthought, and thought some more about how we can honor those 18 years of life that we missed out on with you while still creating a legacy of love and positivity for and with you.
We settled on ice cream.
Let me explain. Your little brother loves the ice cream truck that comes through our development on Sundays during the summer. He hears that thing from 3 streets away, grabs his wallet, and goes running for it. That's why, when your mom suggested we "sponsor" the ice cream truck in your memory, paying for however many kids we can pay for to get a fudgesicle, or bomb pop, or push-pop, or drumstick, or whatever I immediately fell in love with the idea. To put some more good out into the world, with no strings attached. Some more fun, some more love, some more joy, in your memory, kid. Because, well, we don't know who you'd be at this point. We don't know if you'd be into sports, or video games, or music, or movies, or whatever. We just don't know. So, instead of trying to guess who you'd be and what would be appropriate, we're just going to spread some joy, because that's who *we* are, that's who your brother is, and is a pretty safe bet that's who you'd be too.
Love you, Aaron. And I know no matter who you were as an 18 year old adult, you'd make your dad incredibly proud.
P.S. if anyone wants to help us with this "rent an ice cream truck," idea, you can donate via Venmo (but please don't feel compelled):
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