Where Are They Now?
When she was a junior at Dublin High School, Shauna Mahon had her first son. Some people actively encouraged her to drop out or transfer schools, but Shauna was determined to finish. In 2004, she graduated with honors.
Throughout her life, Shauna has had more than her fair share of challenges, struggling with alcohol and drug addiction; the same persistence that helped her graduate high school has helped her overcome these challenges too. Now four years clean and sober and living in Stephenville with her family, Shauna is happy and enjoying life.
After she graduated high school, Shauna worked in the Dublin area, first at Dairy Queen, then at Saint Gobain and then at Chili’s. She also started at Tarleton. “Working and being a single mom and trying to go to college got overwhelming, and I burned out so I did not finish school,” she said.
She moved in with her aunt for a while to be a live-in nanny to her nine cousins, then moved home for a time. The father of Shauna’s first two children was in the military, so in 2007 Shauna moved with him to Washington State.
She and her partner ended up separating two years later, and Shauna met and married a man she met in Washington, then followed him to his home state of Ohio. Throughout her moves, Shauna began struggling with alcohol addiction. In 2014, she decided to move back home to Texas and get help.
She spent years in and out of different rehabs and sober living facilities, and at one rehab facility her struggles with addiction worsened after a fellow patient introduced her to drugs. “There was a period of time that I was homeless,” she said. “This went on for four years. In 2019 I was arrested. I was given a felony charge and did my time, and after that I just got clean.”
Over the last four years since her arrest, Shauna has turned her life around. She moved back to the Dublin area, and got married to Zebediah Mahon.
Shauna and Zebediah met in a serendipitous way. “I actually met him when I was still struggling with addiction,” she said. “I had a tire blow on the side of the road and then there was a man driving a tow truck that pulled up to help me. I told him a little bit about myself and he introduced me to my husband. During that time, I didn’t really have a place to live. Zebediah let me come and stay with him for a little while and I was actually with him whenever I got arrested. He was the only one that came to see me while I was in jail. So when I got out of jail, I got clean, he came down here to be with me and we got married.”
The Mahons have a thirteenmonth- old baby together, Shaylee. Their blended family includes five other children from their previous marriages. Shauna’s oldest son Jorden is 20, Hunter is 17, and Connor is 12. Her step-sons Cayden and Coen are 10 and 8.
Shauna and her family live in Stephenville. On an average day, Shauna helps the kids get ready for school and spends her days caring for her baby. She’s very involved in the Stephenville First Baptist Church, and attends Bible studies throughout the week.
When she has free time, Shauna enjoys trying out different crafty hobbies. “I made candles for a while, I got a Cricut and made T-shirts, and I made wall hangings,” she said.
She also enjoys journaling, a practice that helps her stay strong in her faith. “I really try to stay into God by reading my daily plans, journaling my prayers and things like that, just to stay on the right path,” she said.
Throughout her life, Shauna has found inspiration in her faith. “Whenever I hit my rock bottom and turned to God, that’s when my life really turned around,” she said.
Shauna’s advice to Dublin graduates is to keep pushing, even when things are hard. “Never give up on yourself and never stop believing in yourself,” she said. “And always look to God; no matter how far you’ve fallen, he’ll always be there to pick you up.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.