Arron and Autumn have gone their separate ways again. After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with an anthropology degree, Autumn went to France as an exchange student. She returned to the States and took a job as a ski instructor in Silverthorne before moving on to Jackson Hole and eventually settling in Portland, Oregon, where she started working at the zoo. "I needed to get away for a while," Autumn says. "Mom and Dad had to figure things out for themselves after all they had been through, and I just wanted to have fun for a while."
Arron returned to San Francisco and enrolled in the wastewater management program at Humboldt State, his dad's alma mater. He now works at Biosphere 2, in the Arizona desert. "I decided to do something with myself," he says. "I decided that I want to make a difference in the world, and where I can do that is by learning about how water works and helping people in the Third World clean their water."
Curt Apperson's kidney transplant left a twelve-inch scar on his stomach.
Anthony Camera
Curt Apperson's kidney transplant left a twelve-inch scar on his stomach.
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Arron's body is functioning fine, and Dr. Kam says he shouldn't be at risk for any complications for at least another fifty years.
"I don't worry about that, though," Arron says. "That's something that does not enter my mind. This was about my dad and helping him."
Arron says he still has trouble letting himself get close to his father. "Every day, I feel like I'm closer to becoming an orphan. I have a tendency to not get too close to people, because I'm afraid they'll leave me. So when I look at my father, I think, 'I'm not getting too close to you. You could be dead any day now.'"
The two men get along better, though, and have agreed to disagree. "We still get on each other's nerves," Arron says. "We were putting up a screen door, and I got so pissed at him because he tried to correct everything I did even though things were working fine. But now, instead of yelling at him, I just kind of laugh and get on with it."
Recently, Curt and Diane went to visit Arron down at the Biosphere, and his father could not have been more proud of him. "From a very early age, Arron was always the champion of the little guy on the playground," Curt says. "His first fight was over another kid getting bullied at school. He has always identified with people who are being taken advantage of."
At age 54, Curt has been out of the workforce for almost six years and hasn't had to apply for a job since he first worked for Hughes in 1969. He substitute teaches at some private schools in Denver and coaches youth soccer teams. Diane is a librarian. They have a modest lifestyle, but they're thankful that they have at least made it this far.
"Curt's pretty damned lucky," Diane says. "He thought it was going to work out. We tried to be real positive.
"You know, it's like I keep telling Arron, bad shit happens, but it doesn't happen forever."
