If I Die Before I Wake

A Caregiver's Journey

By: Eli Shaw

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

It all began in 1958 when I was ten. A young family has just moved into the neighborhood. One sunny summer day, while I was sitting on the steps of 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 all 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.