An interesting turn of events

I know it has been quite some time since I have posted. Our lives have been crazy the past couple of weeks. First off for those of you that arent familiar with Bens family situation, his mom had him when she was 17 and he has never known his father. He knew his name but that was all. He had been into drugs and became schizophrenic and his mom thought it best that he wasnt in their lives. The morning of Jan. 25 I received a phone call from his aunt letting me know that his Grandma had just read his fathers obituary in the paper http://www.legacy.com/saltlaketribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=101840408 I called Ben and let him know and we read the obituary. We were surprised that Ben was named in it. He had apparantly died on the 18th and they were just having the funeral on the 26th. I thought for sure that Ben wouldnt even consider going. I asked him and he said he was thinking about it. I thought that he should to get closure and to even just learn a little more aobut a man that he never knew. Amazingly from the obituary so many of his attributes could be linked to Ben as well. I think this had an affect on him. He wasnt sure why he was feeling a sense of loss when there was never any relationship to begin with. I encouraged Ben to go, but knew that it had to be his decision. He prayed about it and felt that he should go. I was very nervous as we were driving to Salt Lake. His grandma came with us and Ben felt fine until we pulled into the church. He then started to feel a little nervous. He really didnt want anyone to notice him or ask who he was. He just wanted to go listen and leave with no contact or introductions. He had never met any of these people. When we got there we looked at the program and they had Ben listed as a pallbearer. He said that he didnt feel comfortable doing that. We sat through the funeral which was very nice and we found out that Kevin (Bens dad) had 2 brothers and 2 sisters. At the end of the funeral the bishop stood up and announced the pallbearer. He said, "Ben, Kevins biological son who couldnt be here today. Ben was relieved. We thought we would get out unnoticed. We headed out and down the sidewalk. Everyone was grouped together and it was very hard to get through. Ben was keeping his distance from his grandma because he thought that Kevins mom would recognize her and connect the two. In the meantime I am praying silently that if we are supposed to meet these people that someone will recognize him. Remember they have never seen Ben before. 30 seconds later the oldest sister comes running up to him, "Are you? Are you him?" She then had tears streaming down her face. Ben shook his head and she gave him the biggest hug. I of course got choked up. The next few minutes are almost a blur. Ben describes it as feeling like Britney Spears with the paparazzi. There was constant yelling from various people, "This is Benjamin! Here's Benjamin! Benjamin's here! Its Kevins son!" We then found out that they had been searching for him for a very long time. One of the cousins was searching through old Cottonwood High School year books thinking that was where he graduated from. They had googled his name in many different ways not knowing what his last name was, thinking it was Pehrson but of course spelling it wrong. We then went to the graveside where they asked Ben to dedicate the grave. Which was a bit overwhelming for Ben. He graciously declined. After the dedication of the grave we went back and had lunch with them all. They were the nicest people and radiated the love that they have for Ben. You could tell that they loved him and that they have loved him all his life without even knowing him. It was such a surreal experience and I am so glad that we were able to go and that the Lord lead us there. We have spoken with the cousins a couple times and hope to continue to get to know them better. So all in all it was an amazing experience. Then this week after feeling great for the past month I began to get very sick Saturday night and ended up in the hospital on Tuesday. I am hoping it is only a two week visit but we will see what happens. Sorry this post is so long, but just thought I would share our amazing experience. Hope all is well with all of you!