Today is the one year anniversary of Shannon’s passing and in the spirit of her motto, Don’t Delay Joy!, I decided to  post some of her drafts of joyous times. There were certainly plenty of them. She crammed as much joy into her too brief life as anyone could hope for. 

This draft was written by Shannon and posted by her mom, Gretchen.

Lately we’ve been going to lots of pumpkin patches, spending time with friends old and new, and trying to keep up with this sweet, spunky little person who is unfolding before our very eyes.

Lately, in the last few days, Emmie has finally started to give me some hope that she will speak and not just sign (I know, there was no real reason to worry, but it’s an occupational hazard). She’s started imitating words a bit more and the words she says sound closer to what they should sound like. Most of her words… no pretty much ALL of her words, sound basically like “ba” or “buhbuh,” but they are consistent and I can tell the difference with context. For example, Jasper is “BUH-buh,” apple is “buh-buh,” and “diaper” is “buhbuh” while sniffing and hitting her diaper. Ball is SUPER clear and I can know she’s talking about a ball even if I haven’t seen the ball yet. “BAH!!!!” Bird is “buh” with a little lip rounding. If you say a word with a /b/ or unaspirated /p/ in it, she will most likely imitate you. All of which makes me VERY happy!

Lately, I’ve been starting to think about Christmas too much (I know! Not even Halloween yet!).

Lately, I’ve been trying to figure out ways to preserve our harvest of tomatoes (still ripening on our table after being rescued from the frost) and apples. So, so, SO many apples!

Lately, I’ve had more ideas for things to do than time, energy or motivation to actually do them.

Lately, I’ve been getting to bed much too lately.