It’s been a while since we’ve written a post. I just wanted to express our sincerest gratitude for those of you who are here and have taken the time to get to know our sweetest boy.
From April 30th – May 3rd of 2026 we had the honor of being able to attend the NTSAD Family Conference. If you had asked me (Aiden’s mama) about the 2026 NTSAD Family Conference a year ago I would have told you we would not be attending. The reason being would have been that Aiden couldn’t travel long distances. I wish so much that we were not able to attend for those reasons. Our sweet boy Aiden passed in September of 2025. Even after his passing I wasn’t sure if we would be ready to attend. Aiden’s brother Sawyer was only 10 months at the time and we were and still are very fresh in our grief.
Aiden’s dad (Matthew) and I decided that we would go and I am so thankful that we did. From the moment we got to the conference we were welcomed with open arms. Not only from the organization but from the affected families. In the rare world you can often times feel alone. It can be so isolating. For the first time it felt like we were surrounded by people who simply just understood. Many of those people were ones who virtually held our hands through Aiden’s Story. Many of those people are ones I will never forget and will forever be indebted to.
Over a few days we were able to make connections that will last a life time. We were given the opportunity to share our grief. We gave blood to hopefully help generations to come. Sawyer stole a service dog or two (he gave them back). We enjoyed the best parade we’ve ever seen. We attended a 80s themed party. We were able to share our Aiden in almost every conversation we had. If you know us personally you know we love to talk about our sweet stinker man. It was healing and heartbreaking at the same time.
The conference is place you don’t want to know exist, let alone have a reason to go. If you do have a reason it’s where you want to be. We will forever be thankful for the opportunity we were given to attend the conference and we hope to be in attendance in Chicago for the 2027 Family Conference.