My brother was the kind of man who could walk into a room, and not know a single person and by the end of the night walk out with thirty new friends. He was the kind of man you just wanted to know, full of life and laughter that not anyone else I know has. Shawn always had time for friends, and to be honest, I couldn’t tell you how he fit all the phone calls into his schedule. At his wake, all I heard was how he called people all the time and how he affected their lives on a scale that has no limit. He was the kind of guy who would pick up the phone and would say “I’m just calling to see what’s going on, because I haven’t talked to you in awhile.” There was never a day that he didn’t put his friends in his top priority, even if it meant he missed out on an hour of sleep. Shawn’s friends were such a large part of his life, and my family and I are so flattered to see so many of you here to keep Shawn’s memory alive. Seeing you all here reminds me that he will never be gone, that he will live on in each and every one of you that we see here.
My brother was my hero. I could talk to him about anything, even if it was something he didn’t want to hear anything about, Shawn would listen and conjure up some profound piece of advice, even if it wasn’t directly relate to what I had even just mentioned. The most important thing is he would listen to me. When we were younger, our parents would always tell us that we should be nice to each other because one day we’re all that we would have. This past summer I spent with him, working and hanging out, I realized just how true it was and just how lucky I was to have him be the only person I’d have on my side all the time. There was no better brother or person to have in my corner at all times than Shawn.Before Shawn died, he had this crazy idea to fill a water jug with pennies, only pennies. When I came back to school, I decided to fulfill his dream. I started filling the pennies by myself, then my best friend Laken started to help. Soon enough my other best friend Laura was putting her pennies into Shawn’s jug, and then people at my work were donating to the jug. I couldn’t thank them enough for their donations. We’ve all decided to donate the money to Shawn’s scholarship fund, since it was his dream to fill the jug. I couldn’t be prouder to have accomplished something that Shawn wanted to do himself; I just wish he could be here to see it. ~ Vicki