Spotlight

So I was realizing that many of you have no idea who Aaron is. I talk constantly about myself and the kids, and thought it was time to talk about the guy behind the Shong name. Aaron is a wonderful, hard working guy. He has a great sense of humor and can get along with just about everyone he runs into. He does have a stubborn streak, although, it usually only comes out at me, his parents or his day job boss.
Aaron was born and raised in San Mateo. He became a big brother when he was just 13 months old (Irish twins), and I thought my boys with an 18 month gap was close! His parents and sister live just 3 miles away from us. He also has a lot of cousins in the area. His mom was also born and raised in San Mateo. His dad is from Fresno and gives Aaron his cool ethnic backround of Mexican, Korean and Hawaiian I must say our kids tan beautifully thanks to him! Noah looks so much like Aaron when he was a baby it's scary.

Growing up Aaron suffered from severe asthma and allergies. As a result he missed lots of school and was always sick during the holidays.
Aaron was brought up Catholic. He went to St. Matthew's Elementary and was also an alter boy there. He stopped attending after high school just getting caught up with college and friends. Although to this day it's a tradition for him to go to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. It is a really beautiful service.

Despite asthma, Aaron was pretty athletic. He played soccer, baseball and basketball through middle school. He also began water skiing in middle school on family boat trips. In high school he ran track and field and cross country and was really good. He was asked to be on the College of San Mateo cross country team, which made his mom happy because that meant he wasn't going far away to college. Aaron also loves watching "his" 49ers and Warriors, he's a fan through thick and thin baby!


Before his high school graduation he was in what should have been a fatal car accident and it really altered his outlook on life. He was riding in the front seat of his friend's car with no seat
belt because it was broken. They were clipped by a merging car which sent them spinning into the divider wall. Aaron went through the windshield and was pushed back into the car by the inertia of it all. They were hit again and this time his head went through the passenger window. So if he seems a little kooky at times, he has a really good excuse. No, but honestly he was tested for drugs and alcohol because the doctors couldn't believe his neck wouldn't have broken without being drunk or high-he wasn't. His jaw had to be wired shut and his mom fed him through a turkey baster for weeks. If you look closely you can see scars from his forehead down to his chin. Surprisingly he has a really good memory of the whole ordeal, but sometimes I think he wishes he had just blacked out. Anyway, it made him become a seatbelt advocate. No excuse you give him regarding not wearing a seatbelt is acceptable. This is the Shong family circa 1995.


Something else that greatly shaped his life are his friends. He has had the same friends since kindergarten. His mom has a picture of them graduating kindergarten and a picture of them in the same line up graduating high school and he still talks to every single one of them today. They are a really good group of guys and I'm happy to call them my friends now as well. Here they are at our house a couple Christmases ago. There are two guys missing, but it's as good as we could get since they are now spread out all over the US. They are the type of guys I hope and pray my boys will fall into friendships with.

Aaron has a deep love of nature and the outdoors. He grew up camping and boating so it was his dream come true when he was hired to work in Yosemite as part of the bus maintenance crew for the '96 summer season. He went back in the summer of '97, but left early when a job opened up in the Parks & Recreation Dept. for the City of San Mateo. Recreation was going to be his major so he went for it. In the fall of '97 someone new was also hired at the same recreation center, yep, me. Little did we know we would wind up married 3 years later, especially since both of our first impressions of each other were "not my type". After a lot of harmless flirting, we began dating in the winter of '98 and haven't looked back since. This is a picture of us at the recreation center BEFORE we were dating.

When we got engaged he started realizing that a college degree was not the route he wanted to take and took a job as a heavy machinery mechanic with the City of San Mateo Public Works Dept. There he works with his dad every day who is one of the Sr. mechanics. They work on stuff like boilers, pumps, engines, and I don't know what else, I usually start nodding off as soon as he starts talking about it. How supportive am I?! We were married in Sept. of 2000 at a beautiful park in northern California surrounded by friends and family. He joined the church that I was brought up in, in February 2001. He was really drawn to the plan of salvation (families and marriage can be forever) and the fact that the church doesn't believe you are condemned to hell if you aren't baptized in this life. Some of Aaron's greatest qualities are his genuine heart, his deep devotion to his family and friends and his hard work ethic. Many of you know he works two full time jobs to provide for our family. Not only is he a mechanic by day, but by night he is a ramp supervisor at SFO. It didn't start out as a full time gig, but he was promoted through the ranks quickly. It was more pay, but more hours as well, I preferred the less pay, less hours option, but the "man" in him couldn't turn the promotions down. How he gets by on the sleep he gets is beyond me. Aaron loves being a dad, and does it all for his three rascals. Honestly each time I've gotten pregnant, he's been more excited than me-maybe because he's the one who's not pregnant :) It's his laid back, happy, go lucky attitude that balances us out as a couple so well. I feel very fortunate that our paths crossed and that they are now forever intertwined. HMMM, I wonder if he feels the same?!