Ann Frances Egan

Ann Frances Egan was born on May 4, 1956 ( a fact she would tell you very fast in her younger years). She was brought home to be loved and cared for by her parents, Tom and June, in spite of the dire prognosis of ""blue-baby"" doctors gave at her birth. What it meant was that Ann was not supposed to live long, having a congenital heart defect; nor was she supposed to achieve any milestones, having Down Syndrome. ""Tish-tosh"" as Ann would say as she was quickly absorbed into the busy routine a household of five children brings. As you can see from the family snapshots, Ann was a ""pixie"" until she had heart surgery as a young girl. As a matter of fact, her heart surgery was one of the first of its kind. She thrived with brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Her trophies and diplomas were from Denver Board School, Easter Seal Handicamp, Pride Industries and Shalom. They were on her shelf along with the puzzles, dolls, Archie comics and stuffed animals she enjoyed. Her prayerbook and rosary were in a quilted frame in her ""pink"" room, attesting to her Catholic faith, making her first communion and her confirmation. Her family had a special attachment to Mother Cabrini. A dandelion bouquet would have been just fine with her as yellow was her favorite color. She participated in family outings from the freezing winter trail skiing to the summers from a boat or shoreline. She could ride a bike around the park and watch a Disney movie or Bronco game with the best of 'em. Even last year at Brookshire nursing home (where she spent the last two and a half years of her life), Ann was wearing her Rockies shirt and waving a pennant for ""Rocktober"". She enjoyed the young adult years of her siblings right along with them, from the hootenany practices to the basketball hoops over the garage. According to the brothers , Ann was the sister who didn't beat them up. When the sisters and brothers left home to get married and have families of their own, Annie and the folks became ""empty nesters"" together. They took trips to Hot Sulphur, Mead and Chapman lake. There were trips to California and regular Friday nights at Bonnie Brae Tavern. Ann had fun washing the car or listening to ""records"" with Dad. Ann liked to help Mom with the cooking and Dad with the barbecue. She liked going to the ""workshop"" all the years she went to Shalom, even when it became more daycare for her than productive assembly line work due to the Alzheimer's. Her greatest joy was her ""baby"" nieces and nephews and then grand nieces and nephews. Some of the last words she was saying when she still was talking were ""baby Michael"" and ""baby Jack"". Of course, she could also unexpectedly give someone the rasberries or say ""What the heck"". As Dr. Harold Guard once told Ann's family, ""people always tell you what these children can't do, not what they can do"". Annie did a lot. She taught everyone to value life and love and help each other which is really what life is all about.