STEVEN SHAW

February 21, 1980--October 28, 1995

We were married for fourteen years before Steve came along. We felt so blessed and always told Steve how special he was, and that God must have waited until he found a really special child to give us. We made sure we told Steve every day that we loved him.

Steve played about every sport there was starting about age 5. He excelled at baseball though, and settled into only playing it when he was about 13. He started right out pitching when he was nine. When he was 11, his team won the county championship (that was as far as the teams went in those days) and one umpire even asked our coach after a particularly good play Steve made at the mound and throwing someone out at first, "are you sure that kid's only 11?" Steve preferred to catch. He figured out early on that catchers got to play everyday. He could, however, play anywhere on the field, and twice while playing right field and catching a long fly ball, threw out runners who had tagged at third and tried to make it home. Steve's last little league coach had him play every position in one game; saying he did that because Steve was the only player who could.

Steve does have two baseball memorials. The team he played with at Chatfield high school erected a flagpole by the ball field, and put a memorial plaque on it dedicating it to Steve. The recreation district named a ball field after Steve, where 11 yr olds play. It has a big sign that says "Steve Shaw Field." The high school and the rec district worked together to have both things ready for dedication the same day, so we could go from one to the other. They were both in April of 1996. We did have high hopes for baseball scholarships and such. When we see new young pitchers playing for the Rockies, it is one of those "what if" things.

Steve also made friends easily and had all kinds of friends, never ignoring anyone, or making them feel unwanted. We feel Steve was a very loving, Christian young man. He raced through life and was a shining star that gave out way too soon. We believe in the promise that we will see Steve again and look forward to that day.

Linda, Steve's Mom

These photos depict Steve's Chatfield Cardinal's team playing Columbine, at Columbine. With the help of an instructional tape made by Dr. Bragg Stockton, then the baseball coach of Texas Christian University, Gene and Steve worked many hours developing this pitch sequence. The "no fear stare" was only Steve's.

Because of Steve's and my mutual love of the game of baseball, I learned to use baseball as an analogy to life. We could discuss any issue such as; knowledge, preparation, practice, commitment, integrity, respect for others, respect for authority, teamwork, leadership and sportsmanship. When an issue arose from school or from other interpersonal relationships we could always equate the problem to baseball to discuss. The beauty part about it is that it never became a lecture from parent to child, but rather a less confrontational conversation, with participation from both father and son.

Steve raced through life like there were few tomorrows. From the time Steve was big enough to reach our kitchen counter tops, he would shimmy up on top of them. From then on, anything he could climb, he would jump off of for the thrill.

We started snow skiing together when Steve was three. By the time he was six or seven, we could not match his speed or daring going downhill; going faster looking for bumps or jumps to leap higher and fly farther, despite our admonishments to be more cautious and in control. As Steve grew older, we observed that anything he became interested in, he could excel at. In the fourth grade, Steve decided he wanted to play the trumpet in band. By the time Steve was thirteen, he played the anthem with the church choir for three services on Easter. Steve could both read music or hear a song from a recording and learn it; such was his talent with the trumpet.

Conversely, if Steve held no interest in a subject, he could not be coerced into studying it. Steve thought school math was an easy "cinch" and history should be an elective. During a semester including a class on Spanish, Steve announced to his mom, "it's like they are speaking a foreign language!"

As Steve got older, he became enamored with a neighbor's boat. We discussed it as family, and decided to buy a boat and taught Steve to water-ski. Steve then decided, typically, to teach himself to slalom ski. After numerous attempts he finally succeeded and soon began to swing wide on turns so he could gain speed to cut back across the wake to again jump higher and fly farther.

When Steve died unexpectedly, we were beyond devastated. As we look back on Steve's life, we wonder if he could have possibly had an intuition his life would be short and he had to live it as fast and as fully as possible. The greatest compliment Steven ever gave us as his parents was when he announced to a third party that "he knew his parents' love was unconditional." Such was our love for each other.

Gene, Steve's Dad

If tears could build a stairway
And memories a lane,
I'd walk right up to Heaven
And bring you home again.

- author unknown

We look forward to meeting you again sweetheart!