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Town welcomes Juan home photo by Jim Craven Grandmothers will stay to help as he learns new life By Jessica Smith People cheered. The band played. And the boy the crowd turned out to see smiled. "I�m happy to be home," Juan Knapp, 15, told a group of high school students and community members who gathered Thursday in Eagle Point to celebrate his homecoming. "I�m kind of surprised (to see everyone), but I�m happy," he said, shaking hands with well-wishers and catching up with his football and wrestling team buddies. "It�s about time he came back," said Tyson Nelson, 15, one of Juan�s teammates. Nelson isn�t impatient with Juan; he�s like many in the community who just wanted the boy to come home. Juan, a high school freshman, was critically injured April 7 in an auto accident that killed his parents and sister in Northern California. For nearly seven weeks, Juan remained hospitalized in Redding, where he was being treated for a broken pelvis and femur, collapsed lungs and other injuries. "I think everybody was looking forward to the day when Juan would return," said Brad McBee, Eagle Point�s head wrestling coach. "Everyone wanted him to come home, but they also wanted him to feel like this is where he wants to be." Juan said he plans to stay in Eagle Point. "This is my home. I�ve lived here all my life," he said of his decision to return to the home he shared with his family. Friends and neighbors have fixed up the living room, placing Juan�s hospital bed near the television."It�s a nice feeling he�s home but it�s sad what he�s going to have to face," said Linda Johnson, of Eagle Point, mother of two of Juan�s teammates. Aside from the months of rehabilitation awaiting Juan, friends and family say he is still working through his feelings about the deaths of his parents, Stephen and Catherine, and sister, Carlie. He learned about their deaths two weeks after the accident, family members said. "He�s dealing with it very well now," said Carlie Guinn, Knapp�s paternal grandmother, who lives in Scott Bar, Calif. "He�s a pretty special boy." Guinn and Knapp�s maternal grandmother, Anita Molinar of Albuquerque, N.M., plan to stay with the boy while he readjusts to life in Eagle Point. The family is still working out long-term living arrangements. From the looks of things Thursday, Juan will have plenty of community support. The Eagle Point High band played the school�s fight song as the van carrying Juan pulled into a lot off Highway 62 and Lynn Road Thursday afternoon .A 6-foot-tall banner shouted "Welcome Home Juan" in black, green, yellow and orange letters and the crowd of more than 50 people cheered when Juan made his way off the van. "That young man is going to have more support than anyone could dream of," McBee said. "Juan will be Eagle Point�s son." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA