When Shane was 10 months old, I ran into an old friend I had dated years before and he fell in love with Shane instantly!! Ed and I were married the next year. We had Jaime in 1984 and by 1986, Ed had adopted Shane and we were one big happy family.
Shane was active in wrestling in grade school, a few years later, he decided to join baseball, and then football (all of these sports require a physical and Shane passed his physical every time).
Shane was a very sensitive, caring boy, very close to his brother. Shane was never afraid to be himself. He didn't care how others felt about him. He was very true and genuine. He loved to wear shirts that professed his christianity to the world. (I'm not saying Shane was perfect, he had his moments as any child does), I remember when Shane was 6 years old, we had just gotten home from church and I had not even gotten out of the car when I noticed Shane crying. I asked him what was wrong and he said, "mommy, I don't know if when I die if I will go to heaven cause I don't know if Jesus lives in my heart!" I called my litle boy over to me and right there and then I explained to him about Jesus and how to pray and ask Jesus to live in his heart and he asked me to help him pray! I will never forget where my son lives today!!
Shane went to bed on Thursday night, Feb 8, 1996 and never woke up on Friday morn, Feb 9, 1996. The autopsy showed that Shane had died of a massive heart attack in his sleep and the only way they could have saved him would have been if he had been in a cardiologists office with a heart monitor hooked up to him and a heart ready when the heart attack took place.
Do I miss him - oh so very much - as our youngest son had bonded more with his father, my husband - Edward, Shane became my "buddy" and I miss him more than I know how to tell anyone. The hole left in my heart from that morning still exists!!
Forever and lovingly missed by his mom,
Julie Bradley
