Ben's story

Italicized words are clips from Ben's law school application letter...

The callous childhood I endured made me resilient to adversity and the perfect advocate for those enduring a storm. My dream is to become an attorney who will help families like mine and to help heal my family from several decades of tragedy.

At a young age you are told that everything will be okay. All you ever needed to worry about was letting the world beneath you take control. In my world there were no worries. We would just play for countless hours until the sun started to disappear behind the horizon. Those were days we would run barefoot through the yard until our feet turned brown or played in puddles because it rained the day before. We didn't mind getting a little wet. There was no fear, no pain, and no worries because they simply did not seem to exist. The only fears or pain that did exist were the monsters in your closet or pain from falling down and scraping your knee. One day, my world stopped spinning and the false reality I was living in ceased to exist.

When Ben was in second grade, his mom, Carla, was diagnosed with Leukemia. His subsequent afternoons were spent at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center as his mom received chemotherapy. As years passed, the chemotherapy did not help. Carla's health was rapidly declining, and the family experienced challenges to keep things together. His dad ran his own business at the time, and the challenge of caring for four young children (ages 7, 5, 3, and 2) and the demands of running your own business were extremely hard.

The family fought through a turbulent time, searching for positive change. The days that followed were difficult and produced little hope.

The children were eventually enrolled at the Milton Hershey School in hope that Carla would win the fight against Leukemia; Ben's dad would be able to work and keep the family home, and the nightmare would end. Carla did not respond to the treaments and was later diagnosed with Graft vs Host disease from her stem cell treatment.  The disease eventually took its toll on her. Her insurance and health requirements no longer kept her in Christiana Hospital. She was moved to a nursing home in inner-city Baltimore. Her health proceeded to decline with every visit. She lost her vision and eventually her hearing, too, making it nearly impossible to communicate over the phone. The family now lost their ability to communicate daily with Carla. Life became extremely difficult for all involved.

One week prior to Ben's 8th grade graduation, Carla took her last breath. The family struggled with the devastating loss - now four children without a mom.

The three younger children were at Milton Hershey School. The whole family had a hard time finding how to carry on. Some siblings took gaps from their education. While at Milton Hershey, Ben played football and was an asset to the team. Football was his anchor - he found a way to release his anger and frustration, kept his grades, and stayed focused; however, home is where his heart needed to be. He wanted to be back home with his dad. His dad agreed to let him come home, and he enrolled in Newark High School. Not long after his arrival, he had made new friends and was voted junior captain of the football team. It was here he met his future fiancé, Shannon.