Tyler had the challenge of having leukemia when he was 11yrs old. These slides are a tribute to him in his battle with cancer. He has been in remission for over 16 years!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Basketball hero
I was at a training class in North Carolina, where I met Tom. He related this story to me and I have his permission to share it.
Tom is a very serious basketball player and even more serious basketball coach. His son's team played at a very high level and were undefeated.
Tom told me at one time his son was playing a team that had a player with Downs Syndrome. His son's team had a large lead going into the final minutes. When he noticed the opposing coach putting this Downs boy into the game, he promptly called time out. The fans were shouting at him to just get it over, but he was not concerned. He told the team that they were not to guard the boy with Downs and that his son who had been the star of the game would guard him. He instructed his son to let his boy get past him and score a basket. They resumed the game and sure enough Tom's son let this wonderful downs boy steal the ball from him and go down and score. Both teams jumped up and down when he scored. The boy just beamed with pride. Tom told me, that moment was the proudest moment that I ever had as a basketball coach!"
Tom is a very serious basketball player and even more serious basketball coach. His son's team played at a very high level and were undefeated.
Tom told me at one time his son was playing a team that had a player with Downs Syndrome. His son's team had a large lead going into the final minutes. When he noticed the opposing coach putting this Downs boy into the game, he promptly called time out. The fans were shouting at him to just get it over, but he was not concerned. He told the team that they were not to guard the boy with Downs and that his son who had been the star of the game would guard him. He instructed his son to let his boy get past him and score a basket. They resumed the game and sure enough Tom's son let this wonderful downs boy steal the ball from him and go down and score. Both teams jumped up and down when he scored. The boy just beamed with pride. Tom told me, that moment was the proudest moment that I ever had as a basketball coach!"
Driving at 5
Christi wrote: "Oh how I remember him putting the van into reverse and driving it into Jeppson's yard. Mom came running out of the house, flailing her arms and Ty was looking at everyone like they were crazy for getting upset about a big van being parked in the middle of the neighbors lawn."
Monday, December 20, 2010
Thanks to Oliva
Olivia wrote: "I remember the time we drove into our yard! :) My mom told me how he helped me learn to crawl down stairs & I helped him learn to walk. She also loved to tell the story about when she first brought me home from the hospital & Tyler came over to see if I could "come out and play." So many great memories!"
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Memories thanks to Cheryl S.
I was thinking of Tyler...and remembered a couple of things that are fun memories to me...
Becca and Tyler were in Sally's class at Monte Vista together. He called her "Cacca" and I was "Cacca Mommy".
One fun thing I remember was doing puzzles with him. Sally had assigned certain puzzles for him to work on, but one day he was clearly bored. I asked him if he wanted to do some different ones, and he indicated that he would like that. So I got a couple. He did those and wanted more. Just for the fun of it I got the hardest puzzle in the classroom, and he did it! When I showed Sally, she said, "Tyler did that? It took me 20 minutes to do that one!!" He told me he figured it out by the lady's nose.
Another day, we were at snack. Sally required that the kids request each thing for snack...down to the cup if milk or juice was available. (She would pour a little on the table if they did not get the cup....and one day, one of the kids lapped it up off the table!) Tyler requested a cup, but couldn't produce the word properly...so said, "Puck." Sally said, "cup." He repeated, "Puck." This went back and forth several times with Sally trying to say it clearly so he would get it. Finally, she took his face between her hands, and told him to watch her mouth, then said, "Cup!" Even though her own disability made her 'cup' a little hard to understand, this time he got it and correctly repeated, "cup!" He never made that mistake at preschool again, at least in my hearing. It was a tender moment, and one of the sweet, understanding things I saw Sally do as a teacher.
Becca and Tyler were in Sally's class at Monte Vista together. He called her "Cacca" and I was "Cacca Mommy".
One fun thing I remember was doing puzzles with him. Sally had assigned certain puzzles for him to work on, but one day he was clearly bored. I asked him if he wanted to do some different ones, and he indicated that he would like that. So I got a couple. He did those and wanted more. Just for the fun of it I got the hardest puzzle in the classroom, and he did it! When I showed Sally, she said, "Tyler did that? It took me 20 minutes to do that one!!" He told me he figured it out by the lady's nose.
Another day, we were at snack. Sally required that the kids request each thing for snack...down to the cup if milk or juice was available. (She would pour a little on the table if they did not get the cup....and one day, one of the kids lapped it up off the table!) Tyler requested a cup, but couldn't produce the word properly...so said, "Puck." Sally said, "cup." He repeated, "Puck." This went back and forth several times with Sally trying to say it clearly so he would get it. Finally, she took his face between her hands, and told him to watch her mouth, then said, "Cup!" Even though her own disability made her 'cup' a little hard to understand, this time he got it and correctly repeated, "cup!" He never made that mistake at preschool again, at least in my hearing. It was a tender moment, and one of the sweet, understanding things I saw Sally do as a teacher.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Still milking it!
Last night I came home after having been gone for the past 5 days. My son with Downs, Tyler, had undergone a kidney biopsy the first day I was gone. He wanted me to see "his surgery". When he showed me the small band-aid on his lower back, I suggest that I pull it off. Before he could answer, it was off!
Tyler wanted a new one to be placed on his wound. I showed him that there was not the sightest sign of bleeding. I came back down a little later in tme to hear him say to his mother, "I'm feewing a little yakey with the band-aid off my surgery." I immediately accused him of "faking it". He had to admit that he felt just fine. He had found that having his mother and his wife wait on him hand and foot, was not too bad!
Tyler wanted a new one to be placed on his wound. I showed him that there was not the sightest sign of bleeding. I came back down a little later in tme to hear him say to his mother, "I'm feewing a little yakey with the band-aid off my surgery." I immediately accused him of "faking it". He had to admit that he felt just fine. He had found that having his mother and his wife wait on him hand and foot, was not too bad!
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