A Mission Passed On

Here are the directions: 1. Ad a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I have had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember. This can be about me, or any related memory of my family.... 2. Next, repost these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It is actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Life changing event

During this time of Dennis's deterioration and the diagnosis from the doctor, Mom came to the realization there were going to be troubling times ahead for the Dean household. She was adamant that Dad should give up his drinking because his alcoholism had already caused too much damage to all, and turn his attentions to his family. Dad agreed and for the most part had given up drinking altogether when he received a phone call saying President Hamblin wanted to have an interview with him.
Although he had mostly given up alcohol Dad was still smoking and our church attendance was very sporadic at best. When President Hamblin visited with Dad, Dad was told he was being called to be the next bishop of the Mancos Ward. Dad was in total disbelief and said he could not be bishop because he did not obey "The Word of Wisdom", hadn't paid tithing for 2o years and was a poor example as a father and a husband.
{resident Hamblin's reply to this was..."Brother Dean, you can either accept this call from the Lord and receive the blessings or you can turn it down and suffer the condemnation..."
To this Dad responded, "President, when you put it that way I don't suppose I have any other choice but to accept...."
It took much courage and committment, but this decision changed all of our lives drastically for the better and for the next many years we were all on a different path of thought and actions in our lives.
Looking back in retrospect most of us are sure this change in attitude would not have happened to Mom and Dad if Dennis had been of normal health, truly we can see that God works in mysterious ways.

Doctor visit

As a follow up to the last post, an appointment was made to have a general checkup with Dr Donesky, the family doctor, to have him give a report on Dennis. It was his opinion that Dennis might have had a slight bout with polio and that was the reason his body was looking different than normal. The symptoms did not mirror the usual effects of polio though, so Dr Donesky suggested that Mom and Dad take Dennis to see a specialist in childhood diseases. This was something that did not happen until many months later. As the specialist looked at Dennis he was able to make a fast diagnosis and told Dad that polio would have been preferable to the disease Dennis actually did have. He named the disease and the prognosis to Mom and Dad for the rest of Dennis's short life. He said that Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy would continue to make Dennis more and more weak and that he would probably die before the age of 18. Mom and Dad shared the news of what disease Dennis had but did not pass on the prognosis to us and we went on with our lives.

Never alone again....

I've come some what to the time frame in the stories of my youth to this one that impacted our family quite dramatically.
Dennis had succumbed gradually to the effects of Muscular Dystrophy to the point where he fell on a regular basis simply due to the fact his muscles were not strong enough to carry his body. It was a slow struggle for him to get back up to his own two feet again to continue walking, but was something he was determined to do to keep on with what he hoped would be a regular life.
One day while at school there was a brief storm that left the ground cold, wet and slippery. When school was out Dennis headed straight for home, cutting through a back ally to shorten the trip from the school building to the house. While in the ally he fell down and started his customary method of getting himself up to a standing position again. This entailed finding a stationary object such as a tree, a door, or a building wall. Under normal conditions he would kind of pull himself up against the stationary object and his body would lean at a slant, he would then walk his feet back under his slanted body. The problem he encountered this stormy day was the slippery surface, which would not allow him to get the traction needed to finish his standing procedure. Each time he needed traction, his feet would slip out and away from him causing him to fall back to the ground. It was as if he were trapped in a cage. It was a situation he could not get himself out of himself.
As the day light was ebbing away, Mom and Dad became concerned enough that Dad left the house in an effort to find Dennis. The fact that Dennis had not come home right after school was not a concern as we would often play or stay with friends for a brief time on our own before coming home. Some phone calls had been made and when there was no accounting for Dennis's where abouts Dad started the little search party. His first obvious look was to do a reverse trip from the house to the school.
Dennis had started to crawl on his hands, belly and knees through the muddy surface towards the house as that was the only forward progress he could make. As Dad got over the foot bridge and to the start of the ally he saw Dennis and was then able to get Dennis home to warmth and safety, but also with the knowledge that things could easily have turned out very badly for Dennis.
As Dennis recounted his inability to get to a standing position he also was truly sobered by the knowledge that his inability to get up could have cost him his life if he would have not been found and was stranded in that ally after the cold had set in after sundown.
I remember Mom and Dad telling him that from that point on he was never to be alone again. It became a personal commandment to him that he could go nowhere without Vic or me with him again.
It was a proclamation that he hated to have to adhere to but also knew it was one he would have to follow for his own good.
From this experience it became obvious to Mom and Dad that they had better start getting some medical attention for Dennis's condition so appointments were made to get Dennis into the doctors office for some evalutations of some sort.
Dennis was very healthy in most every area. He did not have seizures, coughs, fevers, or any illness related symptoms in this regard but it was obvious his body was becoming arched and his strength was far below average.
This particular experience slapped us all into a changing of our daily routine and attitudes.

My Prayer

Dear Father I thank Thee for all I've given
I don't feel that I deserve all I have here
The love of my parents who taught me the gospel
oh please bless them Father and always stay near.
My wife and my children the happiness they bring
for all of these blessings I sing

Dear Father for Jesus I thank Thee completely
My only hope is in all that He's done
His teachings, His longings for me to come home
oh please help me Father like Jesus become
increase my faith in your true eternal plan
Dear Father I know that you can.........

Death??

Death?? Oh yes!! I'm familiar with him
He has taken my brother, my sister, my friend
He has taken my father, my granddaughter too
He has taken the old, he has taken the new.

And each time he came he tore me a part
and left me with such a large hole in my heart
but all you who loved me knew of my pain
and helped me until I felt normal again

So each day I pray and thank God above
For each one of you and all of your love
and I thank Him for each of those dear ones who've died
for they each added joy and brought strength to my life

And I know that some day death will visit again
I don't know the who or the how or the when
and when he comes I'll be broken anew
but thanks to you all I know I'll make it through

and someday death will come calling for me
and when he does, what a friend he will be
for love is eternal and death cannot end
this love that I feel for my family and friends

Jayden is waiting, Roberta is there
When we finally meet a reunion we'll share
and I know that my joy will be more than my pain
when I finally see all my loved ones again

Poems for silliness

This one earned me extra credit in high school and is the earliest poem in my memory
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Once I told a little lie I didn't even stop to try
and think that it might hurt someone
that they'd get blamed for what I'd done
that they'd get spanked and yelled at too
for something that they did not do
and this is why a person should not lie
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If you recite this with a cowboy twang you'll get the sarcastic feel of it all
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I picked up the paper and turned to the section
of people who died yesterday
and I got to wonderin' if they had one more chance
what are the things that they'd say?
Then I got thinkin' , Hey! that could have been me
instead of them on this page
so if I should kick off tomorrow please know
How much I love you today.

In all of the hustle and all of the bustle
of life that we face everyday
Those who are near to us, those that are dear to us
are those that should hear us say
you are my every thing, please hear these words I sing
tomorrow will bring what it may
so if I should kick off tomorrow please know
how much I love you today