What does anyone say at a time such as this? I am unable to find a word that is acceptable or that can accurately describe my love for you Susan and my love for Ben in his younger years when I was blessed to spend time with him. Ben was a blessing to be around, a great kid. I’m glad I had the opportunity to know Ben when he was a boy and I have no doubt that he was a kind and thoughtful young man. I am praying for you and your family to find some peace through the pain of grieving someone you loved so very much.

i miss you so much benji. so much. i can’t sleep i can’t eat i can’t stop thinking about you. i can’t stop thinking about the first time i ever saw you i miss it so much i just want you 

i loved how we would talk about music and tyler the creator, (one of our shared artists) i just miss you so much and i wish i could tell you i loved you one more time, call you one more time, or even play apex with you one more time. you will forever and ever be in my heart i love you so so so so much beau.

Hello I hope you’re doing well. My name is Kiera Grewe I knew Ben in 8th and 7th grade. I have a few super fun memories with him! In a field in the front of watts he gave me a piggy back ride through a back path in a area with trees. He made a joke at the end because he had promised me he would not have dropped me and then he showed me his muscles he was so funny and always knew how to make me laugh. There was this other time I was struggling to write and argumentative essay and he let me use his grammarly. It may seem small but it really meant so much to me. He was so kind to me. Gave me hugs and said sweet things. I wish I could’ve stayed in touch with him but I moved away to Massachusetts and I didn’t have a phone at the time. Your son made me so happy when I was down and I’m so glad that I got to have him as a friend. I miss him so much. I wish your family the best, I send lots of love! 

A beautiful and kind soul, I'll never forget Ben. I knew him from school, we had met through mutual friends along with the fact that we were both interested in working with children one day. Ben and I had long and wonderful talks during the time that I was his friend, he always had something nice to say. One of my favorite memories that I shared with him didn't happen so long ago; we'd been talking about summer and our plans for the future. I told him what I wanted to do with my life, how I wanted to get out of my hometown and do what I love most- art. He supported me and reassured me thoroughly that night. He was always talking about the future, and what he wanted to do.  We shared similar tastes in music and in film, one of the last gifts he gave me was a playlist of all of his favorite songs that he thought I'd like. I love you Ben, I hope you're doing better now. 

Ben was always making us smile in my home room. He was the only kid who would go around and talk to everyone. He was always taking the rolling chair away from my teacher so that he could roll around the room. During testing and extended advisories he would save us from boredom and bring us all into conversations. I took this video last month when our teacher bought a hula hoop, it was a great day, we had donuts and messed around. Last week Ben and I were playing with the hula hoop again, rolling it around. Ben was trying to go through it but was not graceful enough and ended up on the floor. I will miss his jokes and presence. I knew he was struggling but he still seemed so full of joy. Over my junior and senior years I will think of him every time I walk into class and he isn’t there. I am very grateful to have known him which is the solace I get despite his absence. We never talked past jokes, I felt for his pain before and now that his pain is over all I can hope is that all of the many people who loved him will be alright in the end because he made their lives better. “If love could’ve saved you you would have lived forever”

my brother, ben, was an absolute light in my life. he constantly cheered me up, made me smile and made sure i felt loved. his presence cannot be created by any other because of how unique and special his heart was. i will love and miss ben forever and i know that others will do the same. 

Let me start this off with a clarification. I did not know Benjamin on a personal level. I know names, I know faces, but I have trouble linking the two. I might have seen his face passing in the school hallways, or spoken to him once or twice, but I do not have an intimate memory of Benjamin. 
Still, that Monday morning announcement affected me in a way that his friends or the Michaelson family may never understand. For me, it gave a deeper meaning behind more than a few of those memorial plaques on the school grounds, as well as the seeds planted behind them. Some have grown into mighty trees, others are still mere saplings, mimicking the freshness of the memory and the loss of a life that planted them. 
If there is a plaque being carved for Benjamin, I hope it includes one of the quotes I have heard and seen from other obituaries and from his friends who I have met and talked to. If there is a sapling being planted behind it, I hope it grows into a grand oak like the ones in the courtyard, to give more classmates the shade from the sun or the rain as Benjamin had done for many of his own friends.
If there is to be any sort of meaning behind these words, if there is anyone reading this who wants to walk away from their computer or log off their phone or close the book this is printed in having felt like they learned something, let me say this. 
Benjamin's story, as unfortunate and as short as it was, is not rare.  There are many kids out there that consider this tragedy a genuine option each and every day. Reach out to your own relatives.  Let them know you are there. Talk to them, take them out for dinner or a movie, or just hang out together and let your presence do the talking.  
As someone who has been in Benjamin's place first-hand, I can tell you that being there for a person can mean everything. 
Even if you may not believe it, you have the power to save someone's life, simply by talking to them. If anything, make use of it for Benjamin's sake.

In loving memory of Benjamin Ward Michaelson,

I will miss you in class,, being goofy,. I hope that the stars will  be your map guiding you to your most profound destination. 

I've known Ben for 2 years. Ben and I have been sailing in the same boat, for awhile now. We've talked about our shared difficulties and things we wished for. He has been a big impact in my life, more than I can say about anyone else. When I first met Ben, it was outside, in the summer time. I was going through a tough time with a death of my friend, at the time, and I just didn't want to be alone anymore. I was going to do something, that could send me into a black hole of nothingness, but Ben saved me. From the start of meeting him, to the start of our friendship  he has always been to as a savior to me. Even as a stranger, he risked saving the life of another stranger.  They have made my life more tolerable, and bright. I probably didn't know him a long or as deeply as others did, but I sure did love him. I learned a couple of things, like, 'breathing is just sucking up air and releasing it, but living is when you've stayed true to yourself and to those you've loved. And by the end of it all, it will make breathing feel less of an obligation and more as a freedom of internal peace with yourself' -B  and another, 'life is going to throw a game in every corner, and it's your choice to play or sit back and watch others' -B. I dont know what I am going to do with out Ben in my life, but I don't want to just sit back and watch others. I want to be myself,  no matter what, if the rainbows start to fade in color, my personality, heart, beauty, and light will bring it back, every day.. Beau, I am going to miss and live you for the rest of my days, and cherish the times both good and bad. Hopefully, I can be the light in other peoples life, like you were to me.

OBITUARY

Benjamin Ward Michaelson

September 30, 2005 – April 24, 2022

Tobias Funeral Home - Far Hills Chapel

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services