(This is the talk that Russ and I gave at Shannan's funeral. I'm putting it on here for those that wanted to be there, but were unable to attend.)
Shannan- What a name! We have taken the letters of her name, and would like to share a few stories to celebrate Shannan’s childhood.
S for Strong- Shannan was strong, not just physically, but she had a strong willed personality too. Growing up in Winslow, she didn’t really get into the girly stuff, she loved competition. We would walk to the pool, barefoot, with our towels. She had this way of rolling the towels up tight, easier to carry, who would have thought of that being a competition? (Which was silly anyway, because the cement would get so hot on our bare feet we would unroll them and stand there for a minute. ) Swimming, diving, and dunking were all a competition. She was always up to a challenge, which was good because in order for us to swim in the deep end we had to swim across the pool, seems like the life guards did this to us daily, maybe my parents were paying them to wear us out. Shannan was so strong, that one time, she was probably 9 or 10 yrs old, she beat up the neighborhood bully in our front yard. (my parents were so proud, they were peeking out of the living room window) We played many kickball games with the other neighbor kids. It would get so hot, I would want to be done, but not Shannan, not until she won. Shannan was also strong willed, I remember when my mom or dad would tell her to do something, she would always add “but I can’t because” . My parents started saying “no Buts!” before giving her a job to do.
H for Happy- Shannan was happy growing up. Her laugh was unique, just as her smile. She loved hot fudge sundaes from Dairy Queen, Italian Ice, Rice pudding, and we can’t forget the Froot Loops. She probably loved Froot Loops because she loved jungle things…like Gorillas, and monkeys. Some of you have probably even had the privilege of hearing her monkey sounds she could make. She was great at that! She loved movies and t.v. shows like Donny and Marie, Dukes of Hazard, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Beuellar’s Day Off and What about Bob. Shannan liked music, and loved to dance around the house. Saturday mornings she would hurry and get her jobs done so she could watch American Bandstand, and Soul Train…then she and Kristin would attempt to learn some new moves. She listened to the old tapes, such as Prince, Bryan Adams, Rick Springfield, Rod Stewart, Foreigner, Madonna. Of course she didn’t buy a lot of those; this was an 80’s art to make tapes! One year for Christmas we got a family stereo, and it had a tape recorder; you could actually tape a song right off the radio! Amazing. The art came when the song you’ve been wanting came on, and to be able to push the button in time to get the beginning of the song, and then to be ready to push it to stop before the D.J. came back on. Shannan was also happy when she could “Go Fast!” Whatever it was, it had to be fast. Bike riding, roller-skating, swimming, and driving, were all about the speed! If only everyone could have experienced her yellow Honda Civic hatchback. I truly believe she thought it was a race car!
A for Athletic- Shannan was definitely athletic. It was one of her gifts. It didn’t matter what sport it was, even when she got that wiffle ball set for her 10th birthday, and I still can’t learn it, she had it mastered. She played just about every sport that she could. She played volleyball, basketball, and softball in high school. And if I remember right, she didn’t get to rest much on the bench, she played hard. I think being involved in sports from a young age taught her to work hard. She worked at the Dairy Queen, graduated from dental assistant school, and worked for Dr.Turnbull, Dr.Richardson, and Dr.Pinegar. And currently was helping with “Meals on Wheels”.
N for Nervous- When Shannan was about 8, dad would have the car started, running, and he would wait for Shannan to just about get to the door, and then drive forward, not allowing her to get in. Shannan would get hysterical, and cry. She fell for it every time too. This moved up to going to the forest to cut firewood. Seems like every time dad would get “lost”. Shannan would always panic. I’m sure this had to be so much fun for dad, how could you resist? Being nervous can be a good thing, because she was a mother hen to Russell and Bethany. Shannan was the best babysitter in the neighborhood.
N for Nose Check- Goes right along with Nervous, right? Shannan was meticulous in everything she did. Highly organized. Her room was spotless growing up, and she took care of everything she owned. She was definitely a perfectionist. Her makeup was art work, her mascara could not be clumped together, or she would get a straight pen and poke between every eyelash. She would spray each section of hair with hair spray, and then curl it, and it would feather, just like Farrah Faucett’s. This leads to the famous nose check. Anywhere you went with Shannan, she would say “check my nose”, “here look up my nose, is it ok?” She would tilt her head back, and you better have really checked her nose convincingly, or you had to do it again. If you were in the car with you she would lock the doors! She also had the "Butt check". When we got to school, we checked each others butts out, make sure nothing was on them, and that they looked great. :) Afterall, during our lunch hour we would drive home to go through our routine of taking off the 501's, squirting them down with water, just the butt part, and throwing them in the dryer to shrink them back up. The "Tight Buns in 501's" was probably named after us.
A for Accidents- Shannan wasn’t accident prone; she was just fearless at times. This led to many bruises, scrapes, stitches. She was probably around 7, not sure, but she and Kristin were staying with Grandpa and Grandma Orvin in Mesa. They lived in a community with a shared pool. Shannan did a back flip of the diving board, only the back of her head hit the board. The pool started to turn red from the blood, and Grandpa took her to the clinic to receive stitches. (Kristin never could do a flip again. Ended her career.) Another time her bike hit a rock, she received stitches across her cheek. While ice skating, she was going so fast, she slipped forward on her face again, no stitches, but a lot of blood from her nose. Enough that every one had to clear the rink, so they could clean it. Probably the scariest time was when she was riding the Ramsey’s horse at a small rodeo, called a gymkhana. She was doing the barrels, this is where you ride your horse around three barrels, in a triangular form. You are competing for the fastest time, so you want the horse to go it’s fastest, without knocking over any barrels. I’m sure Shannan had the horse going full speed, and when it got to the shoots after, the horse just stopped, throwing Shannan off, onto her face once again. She was pretty bruised and beat up. But it’s ok, it was a battle wound from her speed, something to be proud of.
N for Need- A need is something that is necessary for humans to live a healthy life. We all have needs. Not all of Shannan’s needs could be met. She had struggles the last few years. What Shannan needs to know is that we are all here because we love her. Shannan needs to know we prayed for her, we all hoped she could get better. She needs to know that we love her boys, Austin and Weston, just as she does. Nothing was done against you Shannan, but for you. Shannan needs to know that we are proud of her as a daughter, granddaughter, big sister, aunt, and Mom. Shannan needs to know that we are not going to focus on her unhappy times, mistakes, or the way she died. Instead we are going to support one another, and focus on the way she lived when it was positive. Her church leaders made a great comment to our mom, “she came to church when she could”. I think that is how she lived,” when she could”. Shannan’s favorite picture is the one with Christ and little children at his feet. Shannan you need to be happy. We love you, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
