Eulogy.... by Chicoma, Aaron's sister

Aaron was born on a hot sunny Wednesday; it was July 24th, 1985. He was born in Sarnia, Ontario in St. Joseph's Hospital. For the first couple of years Aaron fell in love with the beach, we spent every day we could there. It was the only kind of water he liked.

We moved to Calgary in June 1991, our first home was in Taradale. Aaron loved to ride his bike with his friend Devon, this was also the ninja turtle phase, were every chance he had, he would dress up like a turtle. He always used to come to my room and open the door quietly, stick his head in the door and say "I'm Raphael", and pull out his nunchucks. He loved to dress up in costumes.

We moved to Forest Lawn and this was the Superman phase of his life that never went away.

At nine years old Aaron became the proud uncle of DeVante DeShon Andrez. Aaron was DeVante's Superman.

When Aaron was 10 years old, he and mom moved to Falconridge where they started a new life, new memories, and new friends. This is where he found himself and where Aaron really started to become the person he was.

Shortly after he started his new life, his second nephew was born. Curtis Aaron George.

At 13, to have a second nephew and with his name was a huge deal to Aaron, he was truly honored. Curtis Aaron was the apple of his eye.

From grades 7 to 9, Aaron attended Terry Fox Junior High, this is where his friendships started to grow. And before we knew it, Aaron was walking the stage to enter grade 10.

Aaron was excited to start High School at James Fowler because I had also attended there. He was soon to realize that it was not where he was supposed to be. Second semester he started at Jack James. Soon realizing Aaron could be Aaron and no one would judge him. This is where Aaron was comfortable. He struggled with academics but I encouraged him to have something I never did, and on June 6th, 2003 he proudly walked the stage and graduated.

39 days and counting till the big 18.

By the time he was 18 he stood 6'4 1/2" tall and was 215 lbs. of pure muscle. He was disciplined and what you saw was the result of his hard work.

I spend a lot of time with Aaron after graduation, we had a lot of good talks and he gave me a lot of good advice. He was my BIG, little brother and I looked up to him a lot. He was so much younger, yet he seemed to know much more He was my BIG... little Brother.

As big as Aaron was he could sure get his groove on. He felt safe in a public place where he could be with his friends and do the one thing he loved best.... Dance! HE WAS MY BIG LITTLE BROTHER!

The last 15 days in the Hospital became the ultimate focus of Aaron's life. It was because in those last two days that his message became so clear, it was a message that he wanted everyone to know.

August 16, the night of Aaron's stabbing he had originally planned a movie night with our mom. It was one of their favorite things to do. They went to the Dairy Queen and got their DQ Blizzard. They started the movie and the phone rang and Aaron decided to go out with his friends instead. Mom drove him over to Moe's house, he gave her the usual hug and kiss and told her "Mom, I'll be home, but it will be late" That night mom had a restless evening, and she was up at 6 am hoping to see Aaron's shoes. She checked his bedroom door to see if it was closed, as Aaron would close his door if he were sleeping. The door was closed, so she decided to head back to bed, but was woken up not even one hour later by a phone call from the hospital.

The doctor called and told mom that Aaron was in ICU at the Foothills Hospital and told her she had to come now, as Aaron was stabbed. As she was driving there she called Tammy and immediately the prayer chain was put into play.

The doctor told mom that they were so sorry that they did all they could and the family needed to be called at once.

Within three hours everyone at Eastside City Church and the Standard Church of America, along with many others, were pleading with God on Aaron's behalf. They prayed and asked God to spare Aaron's life, and that this whole tragic event could be used as a testimony, that God would get glory and honor through it all. They prayed specifically that Aaron would not slip into a coma and that he could have a clear mind so that he could make his peace with God.

God intervened and Aaron started to improve little by little. Even the doctors began to marvel at his outward improvements. When Aaron started to be able to speak, he shared with mom about seeing the bright shining light and that he could see all the surgeons and doctors operating and that he heard all the voices, but that he felt a hand that pulled him back. Even though he was beginning to speak, his condition worsened and he had to be put back on life support. For his remaining time in ICU we continued to pray for Aaron, and even though he couldn't talk, he would mouth the words AMEN after each prayer. After one and a half weeks in ICU, Aaron was off life support and was moved to the trauma unit. By this time our prayers for Aaron to have a clear mind, were answered and he had very little pain and was only on regular Tylenol. Aaron kept asking for prayer knowing that this was his only source of hope, for someone in his condition. He asked specifically for Pastor Ron to come and pray with him. Just before the Pastor left, Aaron grabbed his hands and clung to the Pastor and told him with such authority "Pastor when I get out of here, I'm going to be in church every single Sunday, .. and I GIVE YOU MY WORD!"

When the Pastor left he asked everyone in the room to leave and he told mom that he was so afraid of dying and he did not want to go to Hell. Mom then told him "Aaron you know what you have to do, you have to be the one to invite Jesus into your heart, confess and ask Jesus to forgive all your sins... you don't need to name them one by one, just go over them in your mind and ask forgiveness and you must forgive yourself.... and Jesus will live in your heart and He'll never leave you or forsake you Aaron."

That day mom led him to the Lord. 18 years ago she gave him Natural Birth, but on that day was a Spiritual Birth....

Once again our prayers were answered as Aaron gave his life to the Lord, as he made Peace with God that very special Friday. Mom knew in her heart that Aaron would not recover from his injuries from the beginning and at the end she prayed " Lord, thy will be done". In the next two days all Aaron wanted was for mom to read him his Bible and he just continued to tell mom how much he loved her. On the Sunday before he passed, Aaron was able to go outside for the first time since being admitted. He sat with me and my children and a few others, held little Chiara's hand and just looked around. Pastor Ron came again to pray with Aaron, they prayed right there outside, unashamed and with great hope for a complete healing. Aaron looked up toward the sky and then he wanted to go back to his room. Mom came in and he told her how beautiful the sky looked and we believe that God gave him a glimpse of Heaven. All he could say was "Mom, it was so awesome, the sky was so beautiful".

Within that same time frame we had just learned that Aaron had major liver problems, but Aaron looked at mom and again with that voice of authority, he said "mom, my liver is fine" and later that day he told everyone in the room that he was going home tomorrow. The nurse chuckled and said it was nice to be so hopeful, having no clue that the HOME Aaron was referring to, was his home in Heaven. Others had come up to pray with Aaron and at the end of those prayers Aaron said Amen and Praise the Lord. Aaron was beginning to now ask for all of his friends, as he wanted to share a Message with them to give their lives to Jesus, for He is our only hope, our Salvation.