Aric's Story

This is Aric's story centering on the last four years of his life. As his family, we had no idea where Aric was. Aric had left by bus — I know this because, as his Dad, I dropped him off at the bus station. He told me he had to get out of Michigan. I agreed to this because I wanted to see him just a little longer before he left. He told me he was heading south, but would not say exactly where. Later, I was told he paid all he had to go as far South as he could and ended up in Houston, Texas.

For the next two years our communication with him was dead silent. We had no idea where he was, nor was there anything we could do to find him. The only thing we could do was pray that something would happen so we could find him. We did just that. We prayed daily, asking our relatives and friends to pray also. More and more people began praying with us. We know and believe that God answers prayers, not always in our timing, or in the way we think he should answer them, but God answers them. Knowing this, we never gave up praying daily for Aric.

A Breakthrough

A few months later, Aric's mother was scrolling through Google, searching for Aric's name to come up anywhere. As she was scrolling she ran across a video of Aric being interviewed by a pastor of a church that was helping him. Finally a breakthrough! We contacted the pastor, who was Spanish speaking and didn't speak clear English, but conveyed to us it was an old video from when they had helped Aric several months ago. He gave us as much information as he could. In this video Aric had said he truly felt the Holy Spirit move in him when he heard this man preach! This was new hope for us, and we continued praying even with more vigor.

A month went by and we decided to hire a private detective in the Houston area. This proved to be a waste of money for we had no idea if the detective was actually doing anything. Aric also never left any sort of trail of information for the detective to find.

At that time Aric's sister, Alisa, started a "Help me Find My Brother" page on Facebook. That went viral and after a while, she got a message from a gas station clerk in Houston, saying "I think your brother comes to our station all the time." This made all of our hearts pump just a little faster. Alisa texted back asking for a picture of him to verify. When she received the picture of Aric, our anxious hopes and dreams were CONFIRMED! Aric looked a little thin, but it truly was our Aric. God answers prayers! God answered our prayer in His own time, but we just needed to trust in Him and be patient and wait.

The Reunion

Not wasting any time, the next day myself and Aric's stepmom flew to Houston, rented a car and drove to the gas station. Looking around and not seeing Aric, I walked inside and introduced myself to the gas station manager. Her name was Rachael, and she had a lot of compassion for Aric. Several years back, she herself was living the same type of lifestyle as Aric, but she was able to pull herself out of that situation.

She told me that Aric would come into the station a couple times a day to help out by sweeping the parking lot, emptying the trash bins, and filling up the ice machine. He would work just a couple hours, get paid $5-$10 and then leave. That would give him a little spending money. Later, I found out that before Aric got this job he would stand at the street corner asking for money.

Rachael told me she expected Aric to come back again the following morning. I told her we would go to a motel close by and asked if she would call me when he came in. She agreed, so we left and got some dinner, then went to a motel to sleep and wait. Our emotions were extremely high, needless to say we didn't get much sleep.

We went for breakfast around 7 am, then went back to our room to wait and pray. We prayed and wondered what we would say to Aric. Would he be happy we were there? Or would he run away? All these thoughts were bringing on anxious feelings. We had to keep praying, "now Lord, help us through this," to stay calm. We also continued to thank God for answering our prayers.

Our very quiet moment in our motel room was abruptly interrupted by my phone ringing. I quickly answered it, and Rachael told me Aric was there. I was so excited and so nervous, and scared all at the same time. My feelings were all over the chart.

My wife and I drove to the station and parked in the lot. I looked around for Aric, but didn't see him. Had he already left? That couldn't happen, so I went to the counter and said who I was, and asked about Aric. They told me he was in the back room, and he would be out shortly. I thanked them and said I would wait outside for him.

I went and sat in the car waiting and watching for Aric. There was another man sitting at a table in front of the station who appeared to be homeless also. Then Aric walked out of the station and began talking to this man at the table, not knowing we were there and watching him. With his back to us, I walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and looked at me and his eyes became large as saucers.

"How did you find me?" he said. I replied, "We will never stop looking for you Aric, we will always search for you till we find you, we love you!"

We then hugged like we never hugged before. It wasn't just me hugging, but Aric was hugging me back just as hard. I really felt the joy of the Lord surge through my body at that point, it was wonderful!

Aric's Purpose

Not fully knowing what to say next, I asked if we could go out for lunch to talk. He said "sure, but let me finish my job first." So we waited another 10 minutes while he finished. He then came up to us and said he needed to go where he lived to get something first. So he told us where to drive and wait for him. We did just that and came to find out he was living under a bridge a half mile away in a lean-to shack he had built. He had walked there to change his clothes and now he was ready to go for lunch.

While we sat having lunch we had so many questions for him, which he seemed to be answering very honestly. He appeared to be somewhat healthy, maybe a little thin, but I could see part of him at times that reminded me of the old Aric I knew. I was so thankful for that moment in time.

We got him a motel room next to us so we could spend more time together, and that worked out really well. During our three days there, I had asked him if he was ready to come back to Michigan. He said, "No, Dad, I'm really doing a good thing here."

When I asked him what he meant, he told me he was collecting clothes, so when someone new came under his bridge who was recently homeless and asked for help, he would give them clothes and tell them where they could find food, and give them any other help they needed.

This really touched my heart, and I could see he had a passion for helping others. I wanted so badly for him to come home, but I had to agree he was doing good works here. God could be using him to show love and kindness to people who had never had that shown to them before.

The Birth of Aric's Mission

We left for home that next day and asked him to please stay in touch. When we got back, I met with Adam and Alisa (Aric's brother and sister) and told them everything that had happened. I also suggested we start a non-profit to help the homeless, the same way Aric was. They both wholeheartedly agreed, and that is how and why we began Aric's Mission for the Homeless.

From that time on, Aric did better at keeping in touch with us. Then on July 4, of 2021, I received a call from a friend of Aric saying he was in the hospital not doing well, and possibly near death. I asked the person to please have Aric call me so I would know for sure how he was. A day later he called and said he was doing bad and wanted to please come home. He then asked if I was almost there? I told him I was on my way, so my wife and I drove straight through to Houston to get there as quickly as we could.

Half way there he called and said they were releasing him from the hospital, and asked where he should go next? I called ahead and got him a motel room and told him to stay there till we got there. The next morning we got there at 8 am. I called him and told him we would pick him up. We went out for breakfast, and he did not look good. He had gotten thinner and appeared weak. He said he wanted to please come home. We stopped by his work to say goodbye and headed home.

During the ride home he had difficulty breathing. We got as far as Kankakee, Illinois, until we had to bring him to an ER. They took very good care of him there. Aric had developed a severe heart condition due to his consistent use of drugs. He had lots of fluid building around his heart and lungs. The amazing doctors and nurses at that hospital got Aric on the right medication, and on the right path to better health. He stayed there for about five days before we could take him home.

Coming Home

When we got home, Alisa helped him get connected with doctors, specialists, and the right medications. We could tell he was slowly getting stronger and healthier, even though he only had use of about 15% of his heart. That would take more time and patience. The doctors did tell him that if he ever took a strong drug again, he would most likely die because his heart wouldn't be able to take it.

We thank God everyday for the four months we had with Aric. We all could reconnect with him. He was able to reconnect with his daughters, and meet his nieces and nephews. During those 4 months I had some very great talks with Aric about his relationship with Jesus and he really enjoyed helping with the ministry of Aric's Mission.

I really believe Aric would have died in Houston, but because God is good, and heard our prayers, we were given time with him.

On November 16, 2021 God took Aric home. Aric's addiction ultimately took his life, but all that pain and suffering is now gone. We believe we will see Aric again someday, and we just want to give God the honor and glory, always!