Who Is Mucker?

Sorry to those that have followed me for awhile and know all this already. This post isn't for you cause you already know who & what a "Mucker" is.

SO I guess by now, those of you who haven't been following me are not only wondering who is Mucker, but WTF is a Mucker?! First, Mucker is an Irish term of endearment meaning best mate. Our son Andrew's nickname has always been Mucker, "The Muck" or "Muck" for short. Our Muck made his journey Home at 16yo, 4 months after a leukemia diagnosis on Oct 22, 2007.

In March 09 we had family visit from Belfast N Ireland and despite popular belief, they weren't here doing a "job" for the "RA" "The Boyz" aka IRA.While it's hard, if not impossible to NOT have an IRA connection living in N Ireland, be it through a distant relative either through marriage or blood, it does not mean you are involved it in any way...your Honor. :-) Anywho, they were here to see us and give us a break from our grief and that they did!

My cousin Chrissy had to make a stop at the Build A Bear (BAB) to get her niece something from Florida for her wee BAB bear. I was looking around, paroosing if you will, to see if any of these BABs caught my eye but none did, I could feel one was there but wasn’t seeing it. So I finally asked Andrew,(cause we still talk to him and hear him) “where is it Muck? I can feel him, where is he?” I then noticed the elephants, which Martin is impartial to. As I look at the elephants I see 2 dinosaurs in with the elephants. I heard “Bingo!” SO I take one up to the counter and asked if they were being discontinued because they weren’t up on a shelf, hoping the answer was yes, because then I would HAVE to buy it! My prayer was answered, they were being discontinued so I HAD to get him. SO we began the process of building our "Muckersaurus" & our new Muck was born!

When I explain to our sales girl, Nadine, why I wanted him and that he represents our son for us and my plans to start a cult following for him, she wanted to be the one to help me build him. So we went to the stuffing machine and I stepped on the stuffing petal. Then I had to pick out a heart and rub it on different parts of my body and say a wee chant. Like rub it on my elbows so he’ll always be by my side. And my feet so we always stand strong or something to that effect. Nadine had me do these cool things to infuse my Muckersaurus with love. I wish I could remember exactly what she had me do. You also have a choice, if you want, to put in a beating heart. When Nadine asked me if I wanted one, It caught me off guard when I started to get choked up w/tears as I said “Yes, because I want to feel his heart beating again.”

After he was stuffed and he went up front to be sewed up, Chrissy, and I went to the computer to make up his bearth certificate. Chrissy agreed when I  picked the name Mucker for my dinosaur which is why he is a Muckersaurus now. Then Chrissy, Andrew's friend Wes and I headed off to dress my Muck. Wes was into it as his brothers have a few BABs, but he doesn’t. Wes found camo shorts like my Muck wore, we found a “Think Green” t-shirt which is perfect since Muck cared so much about the environment.  & represents his love of John Denver. We found a black cap that we can write “It’s All Good” on just like his hat he always wore when he didn’t want to do his hair. Then Wes found something so incredible, I just had to have it! It was a metal just like the one Andrew’s nurse, Dawn, gave him with the red, white and blue ribbon with a gold metal. But instead of SURVIVOR on this gold metal it sez “#1″ on one side and “YOU’RE A STAR” on the other. Andrew’s Aunt Julie, where he stayed & his fav place when we would visit N. Ireland, would always say that to him. How perfect is that? A.Very!

But we weren’t done! BAB had a red electric guitar, just like the one Andrew saved up and bought for himself a few years ago. When we took Mucker to the Irish Rover, Bobby, the owner, said he would let us know the next time Brian Johnson from AC/DC is in so he can sign Mucker’s guitar just like he did Muck’s red guitar! How awesome is that!?

We take Mucker to all our concerts that we perform and put him next to Andrew's portrait. I take him places and take pictures so people can see "Where's Mucker?" Today we are going for sushi with Nadine, the one who helped me make him.So this is why I started yet another blog here. That way people can easily see "Where's Mucker Now!" ;-) instead of going through my blog on healive.org to find out.

IT'S ALL GOOD!