Our Neighborhood

The following is a story from our Local Newspaper. This young man is just 2 streets behind us, and he's an inspriation to us all. It doesn't matter what the weather is, you'll see Daniel walking and waving to everyone as he does his daily walk. The story doesn't mention, but he tries very hard to remember everyone's name and he likes to collect business cards. He's a sweet young man, and I hope you take a moment to share in his short story.


Turning lemons into lemonadeDaniel Coakley quenches the thirst and lifts the spirits of those in his Hanford neighborhood
By Heather Halseyhhalsey@HanfordSentinel.com
If life hands you lemons -- make lemonade, like Daniel Coakley has done for the last five summers.After he found out that his father, Joe, had a lemonade stand when he was a boy, Daniel started his own in 2005 and has been peddling lemonade and conversation ever since."It's fun," Daniel said. "I get to see my old friends."
The gregarious 20-year-old with Down syndrome sets up shop from Monday through Saturday at 3 p.m. on Easy Street in Hanford where he has no qualms about waving to a passing car or chatting up a neighbor or two.Liz Cleveland lives across the street from Daniel and routinely pops over for a quick chat and a cup of the sweet lemony drink that he makes from a powdered mix."We have a big jar of change that we keep for my grandkids when they come because they always want to come over here to Daniel's," Cleveland said.Just like any other shrewd businessman, Daniel has business cards to promote the stand that he made on a computer with the help of one of his seven siblings.He also keeps detailed records of his customer demographics and transactions, which show that last year he sold 43 cups of lemonade from May 27 to Oct. 29.While he runs the booth he frequently calls friends and acquaintances he's met at St. Brigid's Catholic Church to invite them over for some lemonade.He sells a large cup for 50 cents and charges 25 cents for a small or refills.The money he collects are mainly dimes and quarters, which he adds to a jar that electronically tallies the coins for him.On July 15 it was filled to the brim with coins, and the digital screen said he had $72.79, which Daniel said he probably won't spend on anything at all."He would do this for free just for the people that he meets," Joe Coakley said about his son.He said that Daniel gives a lot of his profits to church and to homeless people that he passes on the street when he makes his weekly treks to Blockbuster and back."At least half the people in town know him because he waves to everyone that passes," Joe Coakley said.It's evident that Daniel's business sense and wit never cease to amaze his father, who was surprised when he saw that his son had even dug up an old photograph of him when he was 8 years old serving lemonade in Mariposa.The Coakleys moved from Mariposa to Hanford in 1985 so that Joe could teach special education to students at Shelly Baird School while Daniel's mother, Kathy, home-schooled their eight children.When Daniel isn't sitting behind his lemonade stand he is often canvassing his neighborhood, knocking on doors to collect money for specific charities like he did last winter when he collected money for the Walk for Life in San Francisco."It's fun I got to see different cultures," Daniel said of the people he met while going door to door.Fundraising for charities is one way he works to accomplish his biggest goals, many of which are all listed in a notebook he keeps titled, "Daniel's Dream History."Of course one of the dreams he lists is to sell lemonade but he has more lofty goals, including creating homes for the homeless."I'd like to save my community," Daniel said.For now Daniel is spreading hope one cup at a time from 3 to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, before he closes up shop and heads inside to eat dinner and watch two of his favorite TV shows -- "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune."

Connection

Today I realized a couple things as I was eating dinner with my 17 year old daughter. We were both thumbing through our fashion magazines, she her new "Seventeen" magazine, and I, my new Chadwick's catalog.
She was suggesting some cute stuff that I would like, and I suggested a few things out of her mag. What I realized is: We know each other really well. I agreed with her choices, and she with mine. WOW! This connection isn't very common in the teen years. Well, at least, we're told it's not, but it's something as parents we strive for. And when the moment hits, you don't want to make a big deal out of it, just let it happen. Too much excitement and you've scared them off, and then we're weird, again.
Of course, we were both just dreaming, because we're not big shoppers, but we do like to browse the mags and catalogs, and love to watch the Makeover, and 'What Not to Wear" shows. I can look through the same catalog over and over, and pretend I'll buy this dress for some special occasion, or that outfit if I worked at the bank..... I guess it's never too late to play pretend, at least I hope not. But for now, I just cherish those little moments.

Fallen Pine

We have sweet older lady, recently widowed, in the house behind ours.

She had always worried about the effect that her large Pine tree might

someday have on our fence and studio, if it were to fall.

Well, it did Thursday. I was having my morning coffee on the back patio, and noticed how close the pine tree appeared. A little too close..... yikes! It fell on our studio. I investigated, but not too close, for fear that it wasn't done breaking.

I took a few pictures, because my sister, the Insurance lady, has taught me well, while Danny took a walk around to tell the owner.

She was very sorry and will have someone out in the morning.

Our studio is behind another fenced area. We did that orginally for clients and privacy.

Here I'm trying to show the very large limb that is broken.

So, 2 days later, it's still lying there. It's putting alot of pressure on our studio and storage area cover. We hope it's not doing any more damage.....

You know, it's crazy, just when you think the Lord has challenged you with all you can handle He hands you a little more. Scripture tells us to be grateful for all these struggles, as they will make us closer to Him and stronger from it.
Watch out Arnie, Superman and Hercules..... cuz, here we come!

Father's Day Fun

We made a quick fun-filled trip to Shaver this weekend.

Danny's sister has a beautful vacation home in

Appleridge Meadow just before Shaver.

We took a ride with the cousins to Bald Mountain.

From there you can view Shaver lake, and the surrounding valley.

It was a rough ride up to it, but well worth it.

We didn't want to go back down.

The view from Kyle's truck, Danny's was on his KTM in between us,

but not for long, he mostly went off the trail to blaze his own track.

In fact, so much that he lost us for about an hour.

Not to worry, he had fun searching us out.

An Old lookout for forest fires. National landmark.

We went to the top, but it's not recommended.
Great view from up there.

Me, Brent, Danielle & Jared.

View of Shaver Lake from on top of Bald Mountain.

In the Studio apartment..... nice!

Back at the house, it's all about great food, drinks and RockBand!!!

They have a studio for the teens and guests above their garage (sleeps 10-12),

so the kids have their own hangout.

Happy Father's Day

A Prayer, by Antonie Vander Baan

This is the prayer that Shelley's grandpa wrote and recited at her memorial. It's been requested by many, so I thought I'd post it for you. He's an elderly man with a thick Dutch accent, so keep that in mind when you read it. Tony has done this for the girls on every special occasion.

A Prayer

Dear Father, You know we are so down and so sad,

Thank you for all the years that Shelley had.

We cry and our hears feel so torn,

We know you loved her as soon as she was born.

Why did you take her, she was not that old?

Thanks for your hands which we can still hold.

She was so full of life and so much fun,

Thank you for all the times she was able to run.

When she was little, she played like a boy,

Thank you for her sunny smile, she was such a joy.

She was a great daughter, mother and sister, too.

Thank you for all she was willing and able to do.

Oh how she loved sports, like playing ball.

Did we really give enough thanks for it all?

Before her lung transplant, You decided, not yet,

Thank you for the four more years she did get.

But now we are sad and only can weep,

While we know she is in your arms forever to keep.

Dear Father, give us the comfort only you can give,

So we will be able to start each day and live.

We will miss her so, we are left with an empty space.

Help us to fill it with memories, and your wonderful grace.

It is in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen

Good Grief

Within the past 2 months we've lost 2 family members. First Danny's brother-in-law past away from Leukemia, and recently my niece passed away from Cystic Fibrosis.
The ceremonies were in some way similar as the service was as close to celebratory as possible. With the slide shows chronicling their lives and loved ones, and the gathering of family and friends with memories and stories for those mourning to enjoy.
I chose the title "Good Grief" because I 'accidentally' purchased a book titled that, and as I read it last summer I thought 'someday this will be good for someone who is hurting from a loss.' I never thought those people would be a part of our family. I have yet to give it my sister in law, but there's that ever-difficult question that we ask ourselves...."Is it appropriate?" And that's basically the idea of this book.
I don't know about you, but I wonder and ask myself what is appropriate.... should I visit or call right away or give them time? Is it ok to share a laugh with someone at a memorial? What do you say when someone says to you "sorry for your loss?" do you respond with 'thanks?' When do you disperse of some one's belongings after they're gone?
Difficult questions that no one wants to talk about. We can't avoid any of the uncomfortable stages of it, like Shelley's pastor said, "we're all going to die." what makes us think anything different. We just need to know we're ready.
The book Good Grief was about a young newly married woman who's husband gets ill and dies. She is faced with her mother-in-law pressuring her on what to do with her life, she is faced with all the 'looks' of pity that she's now getting, and she doesn't know how to handle of it appropriately...what's grief-etiquette? Maybe even writing this in a blog is totally inappropriate! I don't know, and why do we care? We must all feel this way. And if you knew Shelley, she was always concerned about what other's thought.
Like my other fellow bloggers have written, after certain memorials they make you want to hug your husband, your kids, and be a better person. I read through Shelley's Bible passages several times when I got home, she makes we want to a better Christian. I want to see His face someday, too.
Shelley's daughter, Kylie's friend wrote a beautiful song, that we will record for her. I hope to meet the challenge and post if for you all to hear. She's only 13 (guessing) and she handled herself with such poise and sang from her heart. Now that WAS appropriate.

In Loving Memory

Our family lost a wonderful young lady this past week. My niece, Shelley, was in her 30's. She had a heart of gold and the smile that I'll visualize forever. She and her other 2 sisters have CF. Shelley had a lung transplant 4 years ago, and went on to work, raise her daughter, enjoy her family and friends, even visit the gym. What a trooper.

This February Shelley started to have difficulty breathing and feared the worse. Not only was she rejecting her lungs but soon found she had a terrible infection. The family all gathered around to help her through, but in the end her body couldn't hold on. She no longer belongs to us, she's in the Lord's hands.

Our family has seen many miracles with these girls, and we enjoyed their beautiful souls for many years longer than we ever thought possible. Shelley will greatly be missed.

I've been around Shelley since was a baby and her family lived with us for a short while, I guess I feel like she was my little sister. So daily I think, if I hurt this bad, imagine how her mother, her daughter, her mother, her father, her sisters feel.... and then of course, I cry even more. I know she's in much better care now, and that has got to be our comfort.

Shelley has left behind a trail of wonderful memories and has touched everyone she met in a positive way.