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Eric Matthew Shavensky
Eric was born at 10:56AM on 11/23/85. He came in at a whopping 8# 5 ounces and 23 inches long! He was a very happy baby and a joy to myself, his father and his big sister and brother.
It wasn't too long after he was born that we began to notice that something wasn't quite right. I would nurse him three times in a row and then he would throw up. This continued for a few days and I called his pediatrician. He said not to worry, that it was okay. I was only to worry if he starting throwing up after every feeding. A couple days later, after the vomiting continued every three feedings, his grandmother suggested that we take him to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, just to be sure his pediatrician was right.
We got to the hospital and they started a bunch of tests. We found out that he had pyloric stenosis, the valve at the end of his stomach was closed off. The reason for the vomiting every three feedings was that his stomach had stretched to three times the normal size. They scheduled surgery that same day, on his brother's third birthday, January 14, 1986. He was seven weeks old and so tiny on that big bed. We went up to the operating room floor and when I had to hand him over to the nurse, I thought that I would fall apart. I thought at the time that was the hardest thing I would ever have to do, to hand this little baby over to a nurse and have surgery, not knowing what the outcome would be. That it could be the last time I would ever see him. Thankfully the surgery went well and after two days we were back home.
Four weeks later, he developed a respiratory infection that wouldn't go away. I took him to a new pediatrician and he did some tests. They weren't sure what it was. They did labwork and did a lumbar puncture to test for meningitis. He was in the hospital for four days in an oxygen tent. In the 11 weeks that he was on this earth at that time, this was the second time that I could have lost him.
He then did very well. After both of those scares, he, of course, was spoiled. After almost losing him twice, we all catered to him. He was such a precocious little thing and made everyone laugh whenever he smiled. And when he cried, we all came running.
When he was around two years old, he was playing with his brother and he fell. He started crying so hard. He couldnt catch his breath and then just stopped breathing. His father started to do CPR and we called the ambulance. They arrived shortly thereafter, but thankfully he was breathing at that time. Again we went to the pediatrician who ordered an EEG just to make sure everything was all right.
From then on things were just typical for a little one. He started playing T-ball and basketball when he was five years old. He was such a competitor. He wasnt playing to have fun...he was always playing to win. And when he wasnt winning...he was mad about it! He was that way when he was five.....and that way when he played basketball in high school.
Eric enjoyed playing sports, something that his father instilled in him. He was happiest with a basketball in his hand. He got the opportunity in his senior year to go to a tourmanent in San Diego, California. He got to travel and play basketball. He had such a great time. He was a great student and loved by everyone that knew him. He had such a way of trying to talk you into something. I could say no a million times, but he would always win.
The weekend of Easter, April 16, 2006, we had dinner at my house. Eric and his brother, Michael, were actually on time for a family dinner for once. I was still taking food out of the oven when they got there. It was usually cold by the time they arrived for a holiday dinner. It was a beautiful day and Eric's sister, Jessica, and her children, Emily, Lucas, Ethan and Caoilainn, were also there. Eric spent a lot of time with his neices and nephews in the back yard looking for Easter eggs and pushing them on the swings. All little ones just loved him. For some strange reason, me and my children got on the subject of organ donation that day. Eric said that if anything ever happened to him, he didn't want to donate his organs. He said that he wanted to leave this earth with everything he came with because he didnt know if he would need them in the next place. I am glad that we had that conversation. He left my house on Easter Sunday and I got our usual hug and I love you before he left.
The Monday after Easter was spent with his father, step-mother and brother. They played poker, video games and just hung out. Monday night, April 17, 2006, was his usual game of basketball at the Wesleyan Church Recreation Center. He played every Monday from 10:00 PM to midnight. After the game ended, he gave his friend a ride home.
After that, we can only speculate what happened. He was driving home and went to go on the on ramp to the 219. It was maybe 40 feet onto the ramp that the tire tracks started. Was it a deer that ran out in front of him? Maybe someone too close to the back of his car? Did he drop something? We will never know.
All we know is that around 1:15AM on 4/18/06, he lost control of the vehicle, which rolled over and he was ejected somehow. We also know that the accident was witnessed and the calls were made immediately to the police and rescue and he was in the ambulance within five minutes. They paramedics and the doctors worked on him for almost an hour, they didnt want to give up either.
As I look back, there were a few times in his early life that I thought I would lose him. Maybe God was just preparing me for the day that I actually did. Eric was a wonderful, thoughtful, funny and caring person who brought joy and laughter to everyone he met and he will always be remembered for that.
At the funeral, when people asked if there was anything they could do, all we told them, adults and children alike, always hug your parents/children when you leave each other and tell them you love them....because you never know if the hug you give them that day will be the last.
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