Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Samuel's Obituary

Samuel David Dean

 Feature Image

April 4, 2013 - April 17, 2013

Samuel David Dean went home to be with Jesus on April 17, 2013, surrounded by his loving family.

“Super Sam”, a loving boy, gave so much love to others. In his limited time on earth, he was able to inspire and impact many lives in a positive way.

Preceded in death by his namesake great-grandpa, Samuel E. Trout, Samuel is survived by his loving parents, Jeremy and Melissa Dean; grandparents, Bart and Bev Dean and Ron and Becky Pressdee; seven great-grandparents; aunt, Danielle Pressdee; uncle, Josh (Rebekka) Dean; cousins, Reese Latta, Magnus and Amelia Dean; and numerous extended family and friends.

Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at Hopkins Lawver Funeral Home, 3553 Northdale Street NW, UNIONTOWN, Ohio 44685 (one block NW of the square of 619 & Cleveland Ave.). Funeral service will be Saturday, 11 a.m. at Oak Hill Presbyterian Church, 2406 Ardwell Avenue, Akron, Ohio 44312, with Pastor Brian Nutt officiating. Private burial will be held at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Akron Children’s Hospital, One Perkins Square, Akron, OH 44308.

Too Soon to Say Goodbye

Our sweet Samuel went home to be with the Lord early this morning.  He was surrounded by his loving parents with his Grandma and Grandpa Dean, Grandma (Po Po) and Grandpa (Pop Pop) Pressdee, Uncle Josh, and Aunt Danielle very close by.  He left us very peacefully and was loved by so many people.  Funeral arrangements were made today and his obituary will be published in the Akron Beacon Journal tomorrow. 

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Outside for the First Time

Samuel was able to hit another big milestone in his life today.  Sam was able to go outside on a walk for the first time.  Sure private planes and big trucks are fun to ride in, but nothing compares to the freedom of enjoying a leisurely stroll outside.  He was also able to bring along his Super Sam cape. We tested it out in the wind in order to make sure that it was suitable for soaring.  It definitely passed the test.  Being outside with our Samuel was an amazing experience, and I'm so glad that most of the family was able to be there to be a part of it. 

You will also notice in the pictures below that were able to see our Sam in a whole new way.  He is now free from his ventilator, NG tube, and his IV with the shunt on it.  We thought he was perfect before, but now you can't help but stare at this beautiful boy!  Anyway, I'll let the following pictures speak for themselves. It was another amazing day with our Super Sam!





































Monday, April 15, 2013

A Samuel Day

Today was just an ordinary day in the life of Samuel.  His day began with just a few visitors.  However, one visitor stood out above all of the others.  Melissa's Memaw who suffers from Alzheimer's was able to come and meet her great-grandson who is named after her husband Sam. 
He also had another visit from his cousin Laurie, who brought him a special surprise.  Sam now has a cape with his superhero name "Super Sam" written on the back.  This was just what Sam needed.

Tonight, both Melissa and Jeremy were able to bathe Sam before he was dressed into his pajamas.  Normally, his bath is done in the middle of the night, so Melissa and Jeremy normally miss it.  However, tonight they were able to do the entire bath by themselves.  Sam's nurse that he had for his first two nights at Akron Children's Hospital before his trip to Michigan is here to take care of him again.  He seems pretty happy with that and seems to be doing very well this evening. 



































Sunday, April 14, 2013

Celebrating Samuel's Parents

Samuel had quite an eventful day today.  Today was his most responsive day so far.  He kept us on our toes all day after keeping his eyes open for about five minutes this morning.  While, we have seen him take a peek everyday off and on since his birth, it has only ever been for a second.  The odds of getting those beautiful baby blues on film was just about as good as winning the lottery.  However, Samuel surprised us all today!  Once he opened his eyes and we could tell he was going to keep them open, the rest of immediate family came running in to the room to check out his new trick. I'm sure the other people in the hospital thought that there was something wrong.  It was the best five minutes we have had so far.  Many pictures were taken as well as some video.  After some very long days at the hospital, Samuel gave us just the push we needed to keep going.

As you can tell from the pictures, Samuel is looking very handsome in his new clothes.  After going so long without being able to wear anything except a diaper, it is nice to see him wear some of the outfits he received from so many people who love him.  He was even able to wear the shoes that his parents bought to help create the photo that announced his existence to the world. 

Many visitors stopped by for their first, second, or third look at our Super Sam.  By the third day of visitors, we finally got smart and started taking pictures of all the people who have made a special trip to the hospital just to see Samuel.  Unfortunately, I know there are some people that we might have missed.  For that, I apologize.  Melissa and Jeremy have been amazed at all of the people who have come to see Sam and they truly appreciate your visits. 

We had a joint Mother's Day and Father's Day celebration today.  Melissa and Jeremy are two amazing parents who have put their child first throughout this entire process.  Samuel is very lucky to have both of them as parents and we wanted to help Samuel celebrate them today.  After all of the visitors had left, the immediate family came together to celebrate their special day with gifts and dinner from Swensons. 

Even though we were celebrating Samuel's parents today, we were still able to squeeze in the resurrection eggs for Easter.  This was something that Melissa, Jeremy, and Reese did this year and were really looking forward to doing next year with Samuel.  I'm so glad they were able to do it today.  We also celebrated Samuel's Pop Pop's favorite holiday, Groundhog Day, by reading a story about a groundhog that has some trouble sleeping.  Samuel did not seem to be experiencing that same problem and slept throughout the story. 

Tomorrow will just be a Samuel day, our favorite kind of day.  While celebrating holidays is fun, any day that we can be with our Samuel is a great one!