Memories
~~Memories of Shelley~~
November 18, 1979~September 28, 1998
"As told by Shelley's Mom"
I wanted to share with you some of those special moments in time,
with Shelley. I never want to forget a second of these memories,
so I thought putting them on her website would help me to always remember.
I knew my daughter would grow up to have a mind of her own when
she was a very little girl. I warned her all the time about not talking to strangers.
We talked about this often. One day we were in a local restaurant waiting
for an order. There was a man that we had
never seen before waiting at the
counter also. He struck up a conversation with me. When his order was ready,
he looked at Shelley and said, "Do you want to go home with me?"
I held my breath not knowing what kind of answer was coming, since she had
been warned of this so many times. Instead she looked at the stranger and said,
"Do you have any kids?" It was then that I knew I had my work cut out for me!
Shelley grew up too fast, as most of us feel our children do.
As she became a teenager, things were never dull around our house.
One day, I heard her talking on the phone. I knew that obviously the
conversation was about "boys" because I heard her say, "Do you know
how it is when you meet somebody new, and you really like them, but then
in a couple of days they start to make you sick?" I knew then, that whoever
her boyfriend was at the time, was now history!
I remember riding in downtown Baton Rouge one afternoon with Shelley.
I was driving and the traffic was bumper to bumper. We had stopped at a red light.
She slowly rolled her window down looking over at the little old man next
to us with his window down also. With the most serious voice I have ever heard
from her she said, "Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" Exactly like that
crazy commercial! I wanted to crawl under the car seat and we were stuck
at a red light! She laughed at me about that one for a long time.
There was a time when Shelley decided she wanted to go shopping for
clothes at thrift stores and the Salvation Army. Nothing I could say would talk
her out of this, so we went to the Salvation Army Surplus Store in Baton Rouge.
In a matter of minutes we had a "grocery cart" full of jeans. She started trying
on jeans while I waited outside the dressing room door. After about 40 pair,
she said, "Mom, used jeans are like used shoes. For them to fit right,
you have to be shaped like the person that wore them last." I kept handing her
pair after pair and then on about the 63rd pair she jumped out in front of me
with this worn out pair of jeans on and said, "Mom, I found my soul mate!!"
After trying on 63 pair, we left with 1 pair of jeans. Total bill, $2.75.
Shelley had a great imagination when she was having a crisis. I remember
punishing her for something she had done, by taking away her phone.
A few hours later, I was passing her room and I heard her talking.
It was then that I discovered that she had figured out how to talk to
her friend with the "answering machine"! Her friend would call and leave
a message, then Shelley would answer her on the tape made to leave a
message. This had been going on for a while when I discovered it.
I didn't even know that an answer machine worked without a phone.
All she could say was, "Mom you don't know how much trouble
it's been for me to try to talk to Kelly without a phone!"
Shelley and I had the opportunity to take a trip to Gulf Shores, Alabama
in July, 1998, two months before her accident. This was one of my most
treasured memories with my daughter. It was just the two of us for 4 beautiful
days together. We stayed in a condo on the beach. We slept till 11:00 A.M.
every morning, lounged around in bed and watched our favorite soaps,
got dressed and played the rest of the day. We shopped, ate out in our
favorite restaurants, and got plenty of sun. At night we walked along the beach
and talked. We had some of the closest moments of our lives together during
those few days. This time will be cherished forever in my heart until I can
see and touch my beautiful daughter again.
This picture was taken at my sister's house in Mobile, Alabama.
We stopped there on our way home from our trip to Gulf Shores.
I found the film, still in the camera after Shelley's accident.
I snapped the picture, never knowing it would be the last picture
I would ever take of my daughter.
Scattered pictures,
Of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
For the way we were...
So it's the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember...
The way we were...
"I will always love you, Shelley"
Peggy Swain-Blades
"Shelley's Mom Forever"
Grand Isle, Louisiana, 1996
"What a wonderful memory"
Philippians 1, vs. 3
"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you"
Holy Bible: King James Version
Please take a moment to sign Shelley's guestbook.
It would mean so much to us
~~~~~~~~~~
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