More about young Todd

At an early age, Todd was a warm, happy, friendly, talkative child.  He was very curious and interested in everything in his world.  When he entered his high school years, he went through some changes that I believe were indicative of most young boys his age.  I remember referring to his junior and senior years as his grey and black stage.  Those were the only colors he would wear and he preferred to be isolated in his room most of the time rather than interacting with his family.  He was very much into "Dungeons and Dragons" and would play with a couple of his friends by the hour. 

Todd had several part-time jobs while in high school and, typical of part-time, after-school jobs, none were terrific.  He worked in a couple of restaurants.  The first experience could have resulted in terrible burns because he was responsible for emptying the deep-fryer.  With the second job, he had to wash dishes resulting in terrible eczema of his hands causing deformities of his nails that we were worried would not heal.  The worst job of all was at a rendering plant (slaughter house).  He was responsible for washing down the overhead conveyor belts after the dead animals were processed.  Actually, it's difficult to call it a job because he only lasted one night.  I remember clearly that when he came home that night he had found all new meaning in the wisdom for staying in school and going to college. 

Todd played guitar in a band in high school.  His good friend, Cole, played drums in the same band.  They had a few "gigs" and seemed to have a really good time.  One particular event ended in a big disappointment for Todd.  He had saved for months and months to buy a new guitar.  While he was waiting to go on stage, someone tripped over his guitar stand knocking his guitar over and breaking the neck completely off.  My heart broke for Todd.  Rather than letting him learn to deal with the tough side of life, I took him shopping the next day to replace the guitar. 

Todd had several driving accidents while in high school.  I was beginning to think he was accident-prone.  However, I discovered a research article in a public health journal starting that left-handed people have more traffic accidents than right-handed people.  Well, that made my day as Todd was left-handed.  His Dad, however, raised the question to me as to whether Todd might have been drinking when the accidents occurred.  To my knowledge, he never had a conversation with Todd about his concerns. 

At no time during middle school and high school were we concerned about inappropriate behaviors with Todd.  His grades were good and he was a great kid to have around the house.   I was always a bit worried that his self-image might be suffering because he was quite small.  In fact, at one point his pediatrician made an appointment for him with a specialist to be evaluated for growth hormone.  We never took it any further than an evaluation visit because we didn't feel comfortable about subjecting him to the treatment process.  He was projected to reach a maximum height of 5 ft. 6 inches.   It's amazing how accurate the specialist was because Todd was 5 ft 6 inches when he died.

Postnote:
For those who are following my blog, please feel free to pass this on to anyone who you think might be interested.  My hope is that my journey and Todd's life can be of some benefit to others, particularly someone who might be walking in our shoes (his and mine).