Happy New Year! We want to extend our most heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported, and continue to support, us in the hours, days, and months following D’s death. It has not been an easy road but the love and support truly help. We still do not have any answers as to why Dom went into cardiac arrest; all genetic tests were negative and Dom’s cardiac, brain, and CNS autopsy offered absolutely no insight. Frustrating and scary. Period. Thee Boon (aka, Nora) continues to receive frequent cardiac monitoring and we ourselves will undergo cardiac stress testing this month. In any case, we are taking each hour as it comes, trying to stay positive, focusing on Thee Boon-ey Toons, and giving ourselves a break when we need it.

We also want to thank you all for your incredible generosity. The list of things people have done for us is too long to post, but in short, thank you for bringing us food, buying us gift cards to our favorite restaurants, giving us priceless memorial gifts, sending us flower arrangements, and making generous donations to Dom’s memorial fund. We are in the process of writing thank yous to extend our gratitude, but a simple thank you will never be enough. Oh, and to those who made counter deposits to D’s memorial fund at their local US Bank, know that the deposit shows up in his account as anonymous and we greatly appreciate your generosity.

Regarding D’s memorial fund, to date, you have graciously donated over $20,000! So unbelievably humbling. Know that we do not take that sum of money lightly and we have big plans to memorialize Dom. Thus far, we have purchased a bench and plaque in memory of D to be placed at one of his favorite parks near our house and we have been working with folks at our church and have a few things planned for the Sunday school program that D enjoyed so much. That said, the majority of his memorial fund will be used to build a park in Dom’s honor. At this point, we cannot disclose all of the details, but we are working with absolutely fantastic people and will post updates about designs and any future fundraising efforts. We are super excited about this opportunity! D loved (read: LOVED!!!!) parks, so the idea of designing and building a park in his honor for any kid to enjoy is so incredibly special.

Okay, so many people have asked why we call Nora, Boon. Welp, here’s the story. Before Nora was born we called her Stretch because at every ultrasound she was stretched out from head to toe. Lounging. When we started to discuss what to name her, of course Dom had to throw in his two cents. He initially thought her name should be Margaret, which is the name of Daniel Tiger’s little sister on Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (Dom’s favorite show). The day Nora was born, Dom had a cold so he couldn’t visit us in the hospital. Instead, we Skyped with him to show him his new baby sister, who we planned to call Nora. He immediately responded with, “Hello Bassilia!” Bassilia, seriously? We have no idea where that name came from but he continued to call her Bassilia for about a week despite our protests. Then, for some unknown reason, he just started calling her Boon, or The Boon, or Sweet Honey Boon. Every morning when it was time to get Nora up, Dom would go into her room, lean over her crib, look down at her, and say, “Hey Boon!” He said Boon so much that it caught on! Now, about 11 months later, Nora has no idea that her name is Nora and only responds to Boon (or Toons). After Dom passed, one of our friends sent us the definition of Boon, which means “a gift or a blessing.” Pretty amazing, right? It is exactly what she is. She brings us back from the darkest places.

Finally, no, we did not turn our backs on our Minnesota roots and become Detroit Tiger fans. We had a lot of nicknames for Dom, but the one we called him the most was simply “D.” So, as a small gesture to remember him and feel like he is with us wherever we go, we bought Detroit Tiger hats because of the prominent “D” on the front (and sometimes the back).

Thank you all again for the love and support. We will continue to post updates here until we develop a new website for Dom’s park and fundraising efforts. We appreciate you taking this journey with us!

Love,

Ryan, Tiff, and Thee Boon