Being Ben:
Love, Loss, and the Lessons Left Behind
By Janet Davidson
A True Story of Love, Resilience, and the Unbreakable Bond Between a Mother and Her Son
In Being Ben, Janet Davidson shares the deeply personal and extraordinary story of her son, Ben—a brilliant, complex, and profoundly unique boy who forever changed the lives of those around him.

Born in Russia during the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ben was a triple amputee, abandoned by his birth parents and left to languish in an orphanage that had neither the resources nor the will to care for children deemed ‘unadoptable.’ At eighteen months old, he was near death—malnourished, neglected, and alone. When Janet and her husband adopted him, they rescued him from a system that had given up on him. But survival was just the beginning of Ben’s remarkable journey.

With genius IQ and intellect,  and an uncanny ability to perceive things beyond the physical world, Ben was not just intellectually gifted—he was also deeply intuitive, possessing psychic abilities that defied explanation. He could recall, with eerie accuracy, details of a past life. He could sense people’s emotions before they spoke. And he had an unfiltered, razor-sharp wit that left adults both stunned and in stitches.

Yet, for all his brilliance and humor, Ben carried wounds that ran far deeper than his missing limbs. The trauma of early neglect had hardwired his brain for survival, but it also left scars that no amount of love could completely heal. He wrestled with ‘mother rage,’ an unconscious fury toward the woman who had abandoned him—rage that had no outlet except Janet, the mother who stayed. This led to moments of profound tenderness and joy but also dark struggles, violent outbursts, and painful realizations about the limits of unconditional love.

As Ben entered adolescence, the challenges intensified. His physical limitations never defined him, but his internal battles took an increasing toll. By the time he reached his teenage years, his world—and Janet’s—was teetering on the edge of crisis. The family faced impossible choices: How do you keep a child safe when he refuses to be saved? How do you protect a son who is both your greatest joy and your deepest heartbreak? And how do you carry on when the unthinkable happens?

At just fourteen, Ben’s story came to a tragic end. But it did not end there. Being Ben is not just a book about loss; it is a book about what comes after. It is about the signs Ben left behind, the poltergeist-like activity that filled their home, and the undeniable feeling that he had not truly gone. It is about Janet’s struggle to make sense of the impossible, to find meaning in the unbearable, and to share the lessons Ben left in his wake.

Raw, unflinching, and at times darkly humorous, Being Ben is more than a memoir—it is an exploration of love in its most complex form. It is a testament to the power of human connection, the impact of trauma, and the mysterious ways in which those we love never truly leave us.
For anyone who has ever loved a child who walked a different path, for any parent who has struggled with guilt, grief, or the weight of impossible choices, Being Ben offers a story that will linger long after the last page is turned.