If I Die Before I Wake: A Caregiver's Journey - Softcover

Eli Shaw

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1643616277 ISBN 13: 9781643616278

Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing LLC, 2019

Synopsis

It all began in 1958 when I was ten. A young family had just moved into the neighborhood. One sunny summer day while I was sitting on the steps to my house, a young boy came up to me and rolled his ball to my feet. With the sun in my face I said hi and rolled it back. He ran off. A few days later he did it again. I eventually became friends with him. I told my mom that a Chinese family had moved into the neighborhood and their son, Charlie, was my new friend. She said, bring him over for supper. I did and after supper he left and my mom told me a story about people who have something called "Mongoloidism", now Down Syndrome. I became his mentor to protect him from the bullies and I got beat up more than he did. He suddenly left and I vowed that I would do something in my life that would change that bullying attitude. This book is about the sixty years since that time where I made good on my vows. It is a group of chapters that comprise the ah ha moments in my journey as a caregiver all over the world. I hope you enjoy and are enlightened by my story.

About this title

About the Author

Eli Shaw was born in 1948 and grew up West Warwick, RI. His caregiving experience throughout his life, was very diverse in jobs and on a personal basis. Like most kids of that time, he joined the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. He was encouraged to join the 4-H clubs which would make a huge difference in his life. He volunteered to help with kids with disabilities in a youth group called STAR and went to RISD High School Art Program for six years, later experiencing College for 4 years. He became a US delegate to the Canadian National 4-H Convention at 17. At 19 he founded Camp Happyness and volunteered later in life as Photographer at a Camp for kids with Cancer and one for Families affected by HIV. He was nominated for the Outstanding Young Men of America Award at Twenty and lived in Brazil on an IFYE exchange. Other jobs include house worker for a group home in Massachusetts. He was a freelance photographer since his twenties and was a Visual Display Artist for many major stores. He worked with the homeless, substance abuse programs and HIV/AIDS Peer Education coordinator in Yonkers. He served on the Barre VT Community Justice Center. He worked as an Educational Technician for several schools in Vermont for twenty-two years and was a Retail Manager for the Non-profit called ReSource. He now works with Washington County Mental Health Services and has been a PCA for one young man for twenty plus years. His mission in life is to enjoy it, learn from it and leave it better than how he found it.

About this edition

• Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing LLC
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1643616277
• ISBN 13: 9781643616278
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 382