After Our Son Died, My Husband Gave Me The Most Meaningful Christmas Gift Of My Life”The room blurred, and when I raised my head gravity took my husband my rock tears from my eyes and pulled them down my cheeks. Peyton, Aiden and Owen, at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles before Aiden’s first surgery.
Last Christmas, I sat on the floor surrounded by wrapping paper, new toys and happy kids, then 7 and 9. It quickly became hard to tell what was a gift and what was trash. The previous year, our 20-month-old son, Aiden, died unexpectedly during surgery to remove a tumor from his brain. It was our second Christmas without him, and I was still getting used to shopping for two kids instead of three. My daughter brought it over to me, exaggerating her movements as she walked on her knees.
I pulled the first thing out of my stocking — a plastic, round button, like the kind you’d hit if you were on a game show. I looked up at my husband from the floor with one eyebrow raised in confusion and annoyance. I hadn’t noticed before, but the kids were watching me closely, waiting for me to press the button too. I pressed it and the room filled with sound. The Easy Button sitting on the author’s desk.