Addison Branson Remembered

[Barry]

It's been a few days now since Addison left this world so suddenly. Many waves of feelings and community support have been offered, received and appreciated.

I realized that my initial posting on this matter was focused on my dear friends Ally and Royce, and did not give recognition to the totality of grief and the loss felt by Addison's father Albert and his partner Michelle. I apologize for this oversight; it was certainly not my intent to discount the experience felt by any member of the family.

The Press Democrat has run a series of stories on this senseless tragedy, Here is the most recent link

5-year-old Santa Rosa boy killed in crash 'really special' | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090502/NEWS/905019916)

If you would like to help, a trust fund has been established.https://juggledude.smugmug.com/photos/498494360_wX3Zr-S.jpg

Checks can be sent, payable to:

Addison Branson Fund
C/O Addison Avenue Credit Union
2500 Mendocino Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

or you can donate via PayPal here:
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><input name="cmd" value="_donations" type="hidden"><input name="business" value="[email protected]" type="hidden"><input name="lc" value="US" type="hidden"><input name="item_name" value="Addison Branson Fund" type="hidden"><input name="currency_code" value="USD" type="hidden">
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Namaste,

Barry

[NudeTea]

I click but I keep getting this error response;
We were unable to decrypt the certificate id.

[Barry]

I click but I keep getting this error response;
We were unable to decrypt the certificate id.
Apparently there is a problem. I'll try to post an update tomorrow. Sorry.

[MsTerry]

I realized that my initial posting on this matter was focused on my dear friends Ally and Royce, and did not give recognition to the totality of grief and the loss felt by Addison's father Albert and his partner Michelle. I apologize for this oversight; it was certainly not my intent to discount the experience felt by any member of the family.
BarryDid the PD get the name wrong?

"His father’s girlfriend, Jennifer Welch, 55, suffered head and abdominal trauma and a fractured neck. She was expected to be released Friday from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital."



If you would like to help, a trust fund has been established
I hate to ask this at a time like this, but what is the trust fund for?

[justme]

Contact the bank......

[Juggledude]

Thank you all for your love and support, it is what has been keeping us going through the darkness and fog of grief.

The link to the PD story keeps changing, so I thought I'd post it directly here, to more securely memorialize dear Addison.

His gifts are for everyone, I have yet to even begin to comprehend the vastness of his love, and every day we discover new depth and connection. Bless you, my boy, and thank you, thank you for your life.

Love you,

your "other" dad,

Royce

5-year-old Santa Rosa boy killed in crash 'really special'

By MARY CALLAHAN ([email protected])
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

<!-- /BYLINE --> <!-- PUBDATE --> Published: Saturday, May 2, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.

<!-- /PUBDATE --> Goodbyes were never a simple matter for Addison Branson.

<!--
AC =
--> <!-- GRAY BOX ARTICLE CONTENT--> <style> .art_main_pic { width:250px; float:left; clear:left; } </style> Related Links:
Driver who killed 5-year-old had license suspended for medical condition (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090430/ARTICLES/904309964)
Boy dies from Santa Rosa crash injuries (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090429/NEWS/904299991)<!-- /GRAY BOX ARTICLE CONTENT-->

<!-- /HEADLINE --> <!-- MAIN PHOTO --> https://www.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SR&Date=20090502&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=905019916&Ref=AR&MaxW=600&border=0 (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090502/NEWS/905019916#)
Family photo
Five-year-old Addison Branson of Santa Rosa, who was killed in a car crash
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, at Guerneville and Marlow roads.

<!-- /MAIN PHOTO --> <!-- BYLINE --> He needed to be thorough, inclusive, conscientious.

At preschool, he couldn’t leave without making rounds to all the students, acknowledging each by name and ensuring they all heard him.

“Bye, my friends! Bye, my ladies,” he might add.

With his father, Albert, there was the “kissing hands” ritual, where he’d have his father kiss his hand, hold it to his heart, then return the favor, christening his dad’s hand for his dad’s heart.

But there was no comfortable tradition for the farewell his loved ones faced Friday, three days after the 5-year-old Santa Rosa boy was killed in a vehicle crash on Guerneville Road at Marlow Road.

There would be a viewing, cremation and at some later date a memorial service for the pre-schooler’s family, his father said.

“I’m blessed to have had him in my life at all,” Albert Branson said.

“Anyone who knows him knows that’s the truth.”

A precocious, joyful child with dark red hair and soulful blue eyes, Addison Branson was loving and empathetic, charming everyone around him, his parents and preschool teacher said.

He made friends with almost everyone in the North Dutton Road apartment complex that Branson manages and at Taylor Children’s School in Sebastopol, where Addison attended preschool.

Addison always included everyone in a room, said his mother, Allison Scott of Sebastopol. When he met someone new, he would tuck away their name only to pull it out on some later occasion, to everyone’s surprise.

“He just saw everybody for their individual selves and for who they were, and he appreciated everybody,” she said.

Addison, whose parents are divorced, lived half-time with each and loved and was loved equally, they said.

“He had so much that he could have given to the world, and he wasn’t able to,” said pre-school teacher Rebecca Taylor, who had come to know Addison as a wee child with an outsized vocabularly and an intuitive sense about the needs of those around him. “He was the genuine sweetest little kid.”

“I was thankful to be able to be there and see what a beautiful child and future man he would have become,” Taylor said. “He blessed all of us.”

Addison was in his booster seat in the back seat of his dad’s Toyota Matrix <no1><no>stopped at a red light after a trip Tuesday evening to Safeway when a Ford Explorer traveling at least 40 mph rammed the back of the car, catapulting it across the intersection into a light pole.</no></no1>

Addison suffered fatal injuries. His father’s girlfriend, Jennifer Welch, 55, suffered head and abdominal trauma and a fractured neck. She was expected to be released Friday from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

Branson, 52, said he is still in pain after <no1><no>being released from the hospital Tuesday night. The driver of a Toyota Celica that also was struck was similarly treated and released, police said.</no></no1>

The Explorer driver, Brandi Hanley, 32, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. Police said she was driving with a license that had been suspended for medical reasons. She suffered minor injuries.
Addision’s parents remembered their son as a boy who enjoyed nature, flowers, leaves and butterflies as much as he loved his trucks, trains and motors. He spent hours on the floor, at eye level with his toy vehicles examining what made them run, and loved explaining how things worked, they said.

He could distinguish a waning crescent moon from a waxing gibbous and loved growing flowers and vegetables.

“He’s just the best thing that ever happened to me and will ever happen to me,” his mother said, “and I’m strong because of him and strong for him. And I see him everywhere I go.”

The outpouring of community support and condolences since his death has been overwhelming, and welcome, Branson said.

“It’s humbling,” he said. “And I feel for their pain, too, especially the people that never got to meet him, because they missed out on something really special.”

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or [email protected].

[nicofrog]

Addison
thank you for your bright attention we only played once and I knew we would always be friends.
I will remember to play more,love more,see how important leaves and bugs and tiny things are..and how WAY cool trucks and trains and cars are
I'll remember to watch carefully in my rear view mirror...and find ways to help people find safer ways to play with really cool things.
I cry remembering you,then Laugh knowing your heart was pure
a rare thing in this world. You can help us all be more like you.
Thanks buddy I've got the flag..
Nico


It's been a few days now since Addison left this world so suddenly. Many waves of feelings and community support have been offered, received and appreciated.

I realized that my initial posting on this matter was focused on my dear friends Ally and Royce, and did not give recognition to the totality of grief and the loss felt by Addison's father Albert and his partner Michelle. I apologize for this oversight; it was certainly not my intent to discount the experience felt by any member of the family.

The Press Democrat has run a series of stories on this senseless tragedy, Here is the most recent link

5-year-old Santa Rosa boy killed in crash 'really special' | PressDemocrat.com | The Press Democrat | Santa Rosa, CA (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090502/NEWS/905019916)

If you would like to help, a trust fund has been established.https://juggledude.smugmug.com/photos/498494360_wX3Zr-S.jpg

Checks can be sent, payable to:

Addison Branson Fund
C/O Addison Avenue Credit Union
2500 Mendocino Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

or you can donate via PayPal here:
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><input name="cmd" value="_donations" type="hidden"><input name="business" value="[email protected]" type="hidden"><input name="lc" value="US" type="hidden"><input name="item_name" value="Addison Branson Fund" type="hidden"><input name="currency_code" value="USD" type="hidden">
<input name="bn" value="PP-DonationsBF:btn_donateCC_LG.gif:NonHosted" type="hidden">
<input src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!" border="0" type="image">
https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif
</form>

Namaste,

Barry

[Juggledude]

Did the PD get the name wrong?

"His father’s girlfriend, Jennifer Welch, 55, suffered head and abdominal trauma and a fractured neck. She was expected to be released Friday from Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital."


I hate to ask this at a time like this, but what is the trust fund for?


The PD, as is so common in the 'official' world got the name wrong by getting it right... Jennifer Michelle Welch on paper is known to those who love her as Michelle.

The trust fund is set up to offset the direct expenses of Addison's passing, and ease the financial burden on his parents, none of which have adequate resources to meet the immediate needs. Many thanks to Kevin Doody of Pleasant Hills Mortuary who kindly donated the services of his beautiful facility. If you had the pleasure of knowing Addison in person, please contact us or Albert & Michelle for details on his memorial services.

Royce & Ally

[Barry]

The donation button is now working. If it doesn't work when clicking it in the digest, click the website/reply button to goto this post on the website and click the donate button there.
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