Shelby Rasper: the other definition of special
Shelby E. Rasper was a special young lady, and was treated as such by the caring citizens of Onaway. There was one day that was near and dear to the 15-year-old, and that was her birthday, January 17.
It was almost like a holiday at Onaway Area Community Schools. Staff in the cafeteria changed the lunch menu just for her. She loved macaroni and cheese, and if Shelby wanted ?mac and cheese,? everyone was having it that day. On Shelby?s 13th birthday, the entire school threw a party for her, with all the elementary students wearing hats.
Whether it was in a local business, or at Joy Community Church, where her father Christopher Rasper pastored, people of the community went out of their way to make her feel important. If they saw Shelby with her family at a restaurant they would say ?Hi Shelby.? The same could be said for trips to the grocery store.
?To me the whole story of Shelby is the story of Onaway and the kindness here, because she was a very special kid, and people fell in love with her,? said Heather Rasper, Shelby?s mother. Shelby was diagnosed with epilepsy at a very young age.
ON THE morning of February 19, a high fever is believed to have triggered one last deadly seizure that was too much for her already beaten body to endure. She passed away at Cheboygan Memorial Hospital that day.
?As she got older, I think she just got tired of them,? said Heather. ?I think they started to wear her down a little bit.? The family is still coming to grips with her absence in their home.
?We have our times of sadness,? said Christopher, ?but we also know that she?s with Christ, she?s in Heaven, and she not having her seizures anymore.?
Annette Betke was her elementary teacher for a couple of years. She said Shelby left a lasting impression on her heart. ?Although there are many qualities about her, as well as precious memories, I especially appreciated how she always lived for the good things in life,? said Annette. ?Instead of getting caught up in the negative, she would look ahead to her next favorite thing–riding the bus with her friends, swinging, or preparing for her next birthday (no matter how far away it was).?
If she was upset, it was no secret. ?And when she shot you that infectious smile, whether mischievous or joyous, it would either crack you up or melt your heart,? said Annette. Shelby had a great sense of humor and loved to tease everybody, but ?the older she got, the more she enjoyed to be with her Dad and me,? said Heather. ?She still would be a stinker for other people.?
At church, she thought she ran the place, her parents said. When she felt good, she would get up sing with the praise band. She may have spent an inordinate amount of time planning for her birthday but there is only one activity she wanted to do, and that was to go bowling with her dad, which was just what they did five weeks ago. Heather said the people at Nautical Lanes of Rogers always treated her and the family extremely well.
Her best friend was Christine Brenner, who sadly moved away a year ago, but the two still tried to keep in touch as pen pals. Above everything, Shelby was not interested in the things of the world as much as the people in it. ?She just wanted to be loved and loved by others,? said Heather.
Shelby had a quiet way of showing her gratitude and love. ?She was always appreciative and made you feel special, and like you made a difference in her life,? said Betke. ?Shelby taught me, in her short life, more than some people are blessed with in a lifetime.?
Shelby was diagnosed with the disease shortly after birth. One of the mysteries of epilepsy is doctors still don?t know what triggers it, or why Shelby or three million Americans are affected.
Some of Shelby?s worst episodes occurred when she was a baby and a toddler. Later, medication and a Vagal nerve stimulator, which is a type of electronic pacemaker placed in her chest wall, helped. The aim of the device was to interrupt seizures. She also was on a special diet, but all methods only seem to work for a time.
?When she wasn?t having a seizure, she was really happy and doing things all the other kids do,? said Heather. ?She just had so many of them. There just was neither rhyme nor reason to them. I can?t imagine what it was like to live with epilepsy, but it must be frightening not knowing when the next seizure is going to come upon you.
?Before we got the medication, she had them constantly,? said Christopher. ?A lot of times you wouldn?t see them. They weren?t the grand mal kind, but you could look in her eyes and know she was having one. Through the medication, we got more control over her, to the point where she could live a normal life.?
Heather said the seizures were tough for Shelby to live through, and emotionally draining on the family, but Pastor Rasper believes the experience made them all better individuals. ?We are all better people because she was in our life,? said Christopher. ?Our kids are kinder kids than they would have been, or kids have grown up more than they would have because of Shelby.? Heather added, ?I think she taught a lot of people about epilepsy. She certainly taught us. I think she touched the whole community and taught them that epilepsy is just a condition. It has nothing to do with the person underneath.?
The one recurring comment about the people of Onaway at S
Heather continued, ?There is no way to thank everybody for what they did. It helps us to know they love her too. ?That is really what has gotten us through 15 years, is knowing there would be a day that she will not have seizures and that she would not suffer. I can?t say we were prepared for it at 15. We thought we would have a long life with her, but we really lived knowing there would be a day she would be free.?