Travis couldn’t wait to come into this world, arriving a mere 46 minutes after I was admitted into the hospital. He would soon be known for his megawatt smile, which was a constant fixture throughout his life. 

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From an early age, we knew Travis was special. He was so smart, solving puzzles, discovering how things worked and observing details in the world around him. A couple of his early sentences shocked me, as they were so descriptive. “I see a yellow school bus.” and “Momma, your car is dirty, you need to get a paper towel and wash it and make it squeaky clean.”

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Others noticed his magical personality too. During his first Tee-ball season, his teammate’s dad said, “I love Travis. That kid is always smiling! Whether he’s running the bases, up to bat, or in the field, he’s got that huge smile on his face. He just loves life!”

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Travis brought laughter and fun to every moment and collected friends wherever he went. Even when our world darkened in March 2018 when his Daddy died from colon cancer, Travis’ dazzling spirit brought light back into our lives. 

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This exuberant child with a million dollar smile was remarkably healthy. On the rare occasion Travis caught a cold, he recovered quickly. Other than for his birth, he was never in the hospital. He only took antibiotics once, in May 2018, to fight an ear infection. When Travis first spiked a fever in August 2018, no one could have believed he would be dead just a few hours later. 

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For those lucky enough to be around Travis for his four short years, we were rewarded with being the recipients of his outgoing personality, infectious giggle, passionate opinions, love, friendship and joie de vivre. It is unfathomable that a light as bright as his could be extinguished by this genetic anomaly, this Isolated Congenital Asplenia.

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There is currently no diagnostic test or genetic screening to inform parents that their child is missing a functional spleen. Even with weekly ultrasounds done by a maternal-fetal medicine specialist, no one ever noticed Travis only had part of his spleen, or a splenic remnant. 

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