Shawna Oleson loves her kittens. The kittens were found in her garage this fall abandoned by their mother, a neighborhood stray. Shawna helped to feed them with an eyedropper every four hours, burp them, bathe them, and otherwise care for them until they were weaned from the bottle. Shawna loves animals and has a dog, Copper, who share her love for the kittens and a cat, Sadie, who doesn’t want anything to do with them.
This past Christmas, Shawna and her mother, Deb Brahmer, sold Christmas tree ornaments that hung on a tree at Bogey’s Bar in downtown Medford and in the process raised $300 for Gentle Hearts Animal Shelter. It was a way to give back to the community.
Shawna’s eyes glitter with a mischievous twinkle as she jokes with her mother. Like any teenager she agrees with her parent some of the time and rolls her eyes when she doesn’t.
Shawna is a typical seventeen-year-old girl who loves playing video games and who doesn’t like being in the spotlight. She likes to spend time with her friends and wishes her class schedule at Medford Area Senior High School where she is a junior allowed her to be in more classes with them.
Now that she has a cell phone, Shawna is looking forward to taking walks with her dog. The cell phone is important because Shawna has brain cancer and is subject to mini-seizures about once a week, which can leave her numb and make it difficult to walk. “They never happen at school,” Shawna complains, instead they seem only to interrupt her life when she is doing something she enjoys. She noted that afterward she can’t even play her video games because her coordination is off.
Shawna wants her mother to help her shave the remaining hair off her head noting that she would rather have her head shaved than deal with the hair
thinned by months on chemotherapy and radiation. “At least it isn’t falling out like it used to,” she said tugging on a brown strand of hair.
PREVIOUS PAGE
