Sad Day Five Years Ago

I can't believe that five years have gone by.  January 26, five years ago my Grandson Shawn passed away at the age of 25.  He had some kind of a rare heart condition.  I can't remember if there was a medical name for it.  He had been having some health problems, like passing out in the shower, and some other incidents.  The sad thing is that he had been to the doctor about these health concerns, and they didn't catch the heart problem.  I think I remember being told that it would have been hard to diagnose.

Shawn was very athletic, in fact he received a baseball scholarship and went to  Dakota Wesleyan  college in Mitchell, SD.  He played baseball for them all three or four years that he went there.  He was an outdoor person and loved to hunt and fish. So it was hard to believe that he passed away due to a heart condition, especially at age 25. 

When he was a young boy he went with us to our condo in the winter time.  He didn't ask to take any of his friends, and was happy just to be with us.  He and Frank had a lot of fun sledding down a hill by our condo.  It is a memory that I will cherish the rest of my life. Also the memory of his beautiful wedding in South Dakota.  The last time I saw Shawn, we talked about us returning to South Dakota in the summer and going on a site seeing trip together.

Shawn had married the love of his life, and his wife Tara was just finishing up her schooling to become a pharmacists.  Shawn had graduated from college and was working. Unknown to Shawn, the police department was getting ready to hire him at the time of his death, in fact they had his uniform waiting for him.  Shawn and Tara were getting ready to start their family.   I guess it just wasn't meant to be, but is so sad to me.  Tara has just recently got engaged and I am so happy for her.  She had a really hard time getting over Shawn's death, and I am so glad that she is moving on with her life.  Shawn we miss you, and sometime in the future, we will have a wonderful reunion.