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04/28/06 Well I promised to get more updates out and I have not done as I said. Sorry about that. Actually after some of my long winded updates many of you might be okay with that. Of course I have lots to touch on. Janelle, Alexa and I along with Nana and Papa Feyh and Nana and Papa Deghand attended Remembrance Day activities at St. Jude April 7th-9th. I am not sure I can explain in detail how important it was for Janelle, Alexa and I to attend this. We got to see many families who over the last two years lost a child from St. Jude. Many we did not know about and some we did. It was a very sad time but a great time to celebrate the life of our Angel’s. We were given a partition to use as a memory board for Daegen. We put as much stuff on the board as possible, both front and back. I set up some Thomas the Train tracks and put Daegen’s original Thomas on it along with Annie and Clarabel. Many young kids came along and played with the trains. I was a little nervous that they might walk off. I know how much Daegen loved his trains and I can only imagine what he would be saying as the kids were playing with Thomas. I know Daegen would not really care but I am sure he would have been worried that Thomas would get broke or lost. I bet he had a smile on his face as he looked down to see the joy his Thomas gave other kids. I played Janelle’s song in the background so all could hear how great it is. We attended seminars with a panel of parents who told us their story and how they dealt with their loss. There were two families who spoke. One of the families story seemed identical to our story. Even though we knew other families have lost children and have gone through the varying emotions, it was important for us to see and talk to them. It was probably the most emotionally draining experience we have had since Daegen passed away. I was so mentally tired after the events that I was worn down. I know Janelle felt the same way. St. Jude produced a slide show with each child that passed away and flowers were put into an arrangement by family members to memorialize their fallen child. We of course let Alexa put the flowers in the arrangement for us. We then let butterfly balloons go outside to honor the children. We kept three of the butterfly balloons to bring home and release at Daegen’s grave on Easter Sunday. Janelle and I interviewed with St. Jude for Country Cares. This is for the St. Jude Radiothon’s that you hear on the radio. We should be part of a CD that will be played next year. I am not sure what song our story will be played to but hopefully some of you will hear it next year when the Radiothon’s are going on. We also interviewed with Daegen’s close friend Richard Davies, the person producing the show for St. Jude that Daegen will be part of. We talked about Daegen and how it has been since he passed away. Janelle and I will continue to do what we can for St. Jude in their fundraising efforts. While we were in Memphis we experienced a Tornado Warning. No place like home. We stayed at the Marriot Hotel while we were there. One night we were at the pool, where else would we be with Alexa, when Alexa met a young girl and her brother. The girl was about 8 years old and her brother was 5 years old. They were an African American family and Alexa enjoyed playing with her. The little boy was sitting by the hot tub with me when he dropped his goggles in the water. The hot tub was so hot that I could only put my feet in the water. I knew the water was so hot that he would not be able to get the goggles out so I got his goggles out for him and then went back to sit in my chair by the pool. This little boy looked so much like Daegen, slender build, about the same height and weight. Janelle and I were just commenting on how much he resembled Daegen when for no reason at all he came over to me and put his head down on my shoulder and said, “This feels really nice.” I looked over at Janelle and almost with a smile on my face and a tear in my eye. After about five seconds he lifted up his head and walked back to his table. He didn’t say anything as he walked away. When he said, “This feels really nice” I felt like saying how great it felt to have him lean his head on my shoulder. Janelle and I looked at each other in amazement and both new instantly that for five seconds Daegen had either put himself in this little boy or had guided him to do what he did. It was AWESOME. After we got home I was moving some dirt from one location to our land so we can use it when we start building. On my second trip to dump the dirt, I wrecked the dump truck I was driving and received a nasty cut on my head. There was a pedestrian walking in the road going the same direction as I was. I did not want to startle her and she was not in the roadway as a traffic hazard. I got over as far to the right as I could when the weight of the tires caved the edge of the roadway and the rear tires started to slide into the ditch. There are no shoulders on the road and it drops off into the ditch. I obviously overcorrected to the left and then had to correct back to the right. As I was doing this the rear of the dump truck began to go across someone’s driveway. The rear tires then went off the driveway into the ditch causing the dump truck fully loaded to overturn on the drivers’ side. Daegen was watching over me because I did not get hurt too bad. I don’t remember the accident much from the first overcorrected maneuver I made so the rest is based off the marks on the road. I don’t remember getting out of the truck or much after that. I know that I tried to climb out of the truck and got halfway out and fell back in before I climbed out the second time. While the firemen were working on me my cell phone rang and it was Janelle. I told her that I could not talk to her because they were working on me. I then gave the phone to the fireman. I can only imagine how that must have made Janelle feel. I received a 2 ½ -3 inch cut on my head that required 7 staples to close up. The dump truck belonged to a good friend of mine Dean Andrews’ dad Jim Andrews. I felt terrible about damaging their truck and don’t know if I can ever make it up to them. It really did not cause much damage to the truck. It broke the drives side window and dented the door and did some minor damage to the dump part. I found out several days later that the load of dirt I dumped in the ditch was actually loaded back up and taken to my land. Thank you. My biggest regret is that during all of this I never saw a glimpse of Daegen or heard him. I must not have been close to dying but I wish I could have seen him. The week before I actually drove the same truck a week earlier and could not find the seat belt so I drove it without the seat belt. I then asked Dean about the seat belt and he was able to find it. When I wrecked, I had it on. Someone above was sure I knew where the seatbelt was when I drove the truck the second time. Easter was especially hard this year. Mass was difficult as was the Easter egg hunt later in the day. Janelle and I just stood off by ourselves and cried as the kids found the eggs. We know that Daegen was looking down with a big smile on his face. Janelle and I always feel like Father Bill’s homily relates somehow to our experience or to Daegen. We really learn so much and enjoy listening to Father Bill. He always says the right thing and is so compassionate to our needs. I wish you could all meet and get to know Father Bill. One regret Janelle and I have is not having Father Bill get to know Daegen better when we knew there was no cure. Father Bill’s short time with Daegen was not enough but Father Bill certainly touched Daegen as I am sure Daegen touched Father Bill. We are gearing up and working hard on the DMAN Hero Friends and Family National Team. We have begun recruiting Team Captains and continue to recruit more whenever we can. Janelle and I have asked for volunteers for Team Captains a couple of times with little success. We have however had a few total strangers offer to be Team Captains. It continues to amaze Janelle and me when someone we don’t know is touched by Daegen in a way that they want to help. To have a total stranger volunteer out of the blue just because they keep up with our website is amazing. Our goal is to raise at least $100,000 this year for the walk. With a lot of hard work it can be done. Thanks to the National Committee for all of their help. The following is an example on how we can reach this goal. Each Team Captain would recruit 10-15 people to walk under them on their team. The Team Captain would ask the 10-15 walkers to try to raise $100-$150 each. That amount is close to the national average but it is not set in stone. It can certainly be less and certainly be more. The team captain would also have people sponsor them in the walk for the same $100-$150. If the team captain and 15 walkers each raised the $150 that would mean that Team Captain and their walkers raised $2400 total. Not a large amount but also not a small amount. If we had a total of 100 Team Captains across the country that would amount to $240,000. Not bad when you add it up. It is simple math and simple in theory and it has been proven to work in the past. We just need to convince people to be Team Captains and that it works. Janelle is venturing into a new line of business. Some of you may have heard of Arbonne International but some of you might not have. Janelle is an Independent Consultant and the following link will take you to her website. http://www.livingfreefeelingfabulous.myarbonne.com/arbonne/livingfreefeelingfabulous.nsf Check out her website and feel free to contact Janelle if you have any questions or if you want to order. She is committed to being successful at this but she does need help from others. Alexa and my niece Nicci saw some clouds the other day that were train tracks. Alexa was sure that Daegen and Zach were riding Thomas the Train on the cloud train tracks. Janelle said Alexa talked to Daegen after we were at St. Jude for Remembrance Day and Daegen told her that he was so glad that St. Jude put on the Remembrance Day activities and Daegen told Alexa he was very happy that we were there. You can imagine the tears that started to roll down my face as Janelle told me this. I am completely amazed at how Alexa can communicate with Daegen. I wish so much I could talk to Daegen. Maybe some day. Please continue to pray for all the sick children you know and don’t know and their families. The power of prayer is good. God Bless
Love,
Lance, Janelle, Alexa and Angel Daegen
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