About RememberEthan
2014 was one of the best and yet one of the worst years of our lives. In April, we were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. We named him Ethan because it meant strong. Ten days before Christmas, there was a tragic accident and Ethan lost his life on December 16th. One month after our son passed away, we were out to dinner and saw a woman with a little boy. We decided that we would secretly pay for their dinner in Ethan’s memory. That morphed into creating cards which we could then pass on when doing a random act of kindness in Ethan’s name. We began performing a bunch of random acts and passing out the cards. We sent the cards to our friends and family, who also began dispersing them with random acts of kindness in his name.
Ethan’s Story
April 28th, our little bundle of joy entered the world.
He spent his first 8 weeks at home with mommy; well, when mommy wasn’t in the hospital getting her appendix removed. During that, he spent a lot of time with Grandma and Gradpa, too. After that, it was on to daycare and a whole new world. He made lots of friends and even started flirting with his first girlfriend. Over the summer, he got to visit his Great Grandma… Take his first trip to an amusement park… Visit with is cousins… And attend his first cornfest with his best friend Sammy. In October, he went international with a trip to Toronto, Canada. He really enjoyed Ripley’s Aquarium! The next weekend, he went on a road trip and saw both sets of grandparents in two days. Shortly after that, we decided it was time to get his hair cut, since it went below his nose if you pulled it staight. What a difference that made! From there it was on to Halloween, when he went trick or treating to our neighbors as our Little Lion Man. In November, he got to see his Great Grandpa and the farm that he lived on. He was less impressed with the horses, but loved meeting his Daddy’s cousins and their kids. Thanksgiving was at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. We were gettig so excited for his first Christmas. He loved the tree and was always trying to grab things on the tree. He even got a chance to sit with Santa.
But on December 15th, tragedy struck. Ethan stopped breathing during a nap at daycare.
He was rushed to the hospital where they got his heart beating again.
He was transferred to the PICU at Gallisano Children’s Hospital.
The doctors there worked on him for nearly 8 hours, trying to get him breathing on his own again.
They were attempting to get a CT scan, but first, they had to get his heart rate down and his blood pressure up.
It was around 2 a.m. that the doctors came to us with, ultimately, the biggest question of our lives.
They could continue, but with every hour that went by, the chances of him having any quality of life were quickly diminishing.
Friends and family came to say their good-byes. Mommy and Daddy read Good Night moon to Ethan one more time.
Around 3 a.m. December 16th, 2014, our little angel sprouted his wings.
While his life may have been short, his spirit will continue on. He was such a happy person and people stopped everywhere we went to talk to him. We always imagine him being a strong, gentle, caring and happy person who would genuinely change the world for the better. As his parents, we feel it is our mission in life to make sure Ethan’s legacy lives on. And so his spirit is carried on via Random Acts in his name.