Hello,  I just got back from spending a week with my daughter and her girls.  Had a good time, but missed being on here. those little girls give her a run for her money. This week she is sick.  She has pancreatitis and is in an enormous amount of pain. She has high blood pressure, and just started medication for that.  Found herself getting dizzy and light headed.  Dr. told her it is because her body is not used to this normal blood pressure and will adjust.  I do need prayers for her to get over the pancreatitis and regain strength.

Today, I was thinking of more memories with Shawn and thought I would share some.  I used to take him shopping a lot.  He was a lot of fun. So much that you would forget he was in pain.  Many times I took him to Walmart, and he loved to go behind the round clothing racks.  When I would go by, he would jump out at me and just cackle.  He had a wonderful laugh and was short and simple when speaking.  His message on his cell phone voice mail said, "You know what to do"  Like I said, short and sweet.

I am a short person, so when I go to Walmart I take an umbrella that extends, or I also have a backscratcher that folds down.  I have used those methods to reach things that are out of reach for me.  One day he was with me and I needed something on the top shelf that was pushed way back on the shelf.  I told him to hold on while I went and got someone to help me.  He said Ma, I can get it.  I said we would be thrown out of Walmart if they ever saw him do what he did.  He would pull the chair up to the shelves and lock it.  Then he would stand on his one knee and reach to get what I needed.  He laughed and said "What they gonna do?". 

He had a wonderful humor, and loved to scare me anytime he could. That was from childhood.  I never knew when he was gonna get me.  He loved when I screamed.  Figured he got me again.

He became a type of surrogate dad to my younger son, Matt.  Matt refused to follow rules, and chose to go elsewhere.  He found some people to live with and they used him as a babysitter.  Not long after that he was here and said, "I wish I only had to worry about cleaning my room."  Still he would not come back.  My husband is not the easiest person for them to live with.  He is set in his ways and had his rules.  Matt didn't want to follow the rules.  Shawn lived in another town and somehow Matt ended up moving in with him.  It was good, because Matt would drive and Shawn refused to get his drivers liscense after the accident.  At one point, Shawn saw a man in a power wheelchair and said "That's what I want."  I said, "No, we have seen what you do with a motor, and that you don't need." we both laughed our heads off.

When Shawn first got home from the hospital, he went in his room and came out carrying all his shoes and boots.  His comment was, "Boy, am I gonna save a lot of money not having to buy these and socks."   I couldn't believe he was joking about it.  I guess he had accepted it by that time.  When he tried on his first prosthetics, I have a picture of him standing between parallel bars saying, "Look Ma, No Hands!"  He was so anxious to get up and walk, that he had an idea and tried to make legs for himself.  It was a pvc pipe with concrete inside.  What we didn't know at that time is You don't walk on the stubs, the knee is where the brace is set.  It took him about 3 seconds to realize that.  

Shortly after his accident, My mother was here with us, and he come rolling in the livingroom one day and jumped out of his chair and landed on the floor.  She got a shocked look and he turned to her grinning and said, " Help me Grandma, I fall down and can't get up."  Then mom realized he was goofing off and took a swat at him.  It was hilarious.  

We have 3 steps up to the back door, and for awhile had a selfmade ramp made which ended up at the base of a tree.  My biggest fear was the he would go flying down that ramp and hit that tree.  He found out about my fear and continued to terrify me. ha ha.

At that time he smoked.  My husband has asthma and no one smokes inside our home.  Shawn would go to the ramp and back out the door and lock his brakes and sit and smoke.  One day he evidently let one lock loose and he did a tirl a whirl off the ramp.  We took him to the hospital to see if anything was broken, but we had not had exrays since his accident so they couldn't tell.  we brought him home and he rested until he felt better.  So as you can see, he was quite a handful.  Next time I will tell you about a trip to the VA, which would have won 100,000. on America's Funniest Videos, if only I had a camera to tape it with.  So that's enough for now.  I will add a picture of him standing in his first set of prosthetics. Thanks for reading.      Peggy