I'm a liberal pagan living in West, Texas. Yes. That West, Texas.

Monday, October 20, 2008

WHY I LOVE TEXAS


There are so many articles out there on Texans that make me want to cringe, that it's really great to read stories about the type of Texans I'm so fond of..These are my kinda Texans.

"Kristin Pass, an 18-year-old senior with Down syndrome, became Aledo High School's homecoming queen to a joyous standing ovation and the flutter of a thousand tissues on a remarkable night for an amazing young woman.
Her grandfather, Dr. David Campbell of Corsicana, escorted her onto the field and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as Kristin joined eight other young women in the Homemaking Court to await the results of the vote, cast by the 360-plus members of Aledo High's senior class.
Then came the announcement, and pandemonium.
"Oh my gosh! I was sitting in the student section and everyone stood up crying and cheering for Kristin," said long-time friend and fellow senior Meaghan Geary, 17, who first met Kristin in the third grade. "It was great."
Caroline Pass stood at the edge of the football field, taking pictures of her daughter and friends' daughters in the court, when the stadium erupted.
"It's just something you can't even imagine," she said. "And afterward. everyone was just running down to her, congratulating her. And the other girls in the court, they're all just beautiful girls, inside and out."
"Kristin has a lot of friends- she likes everyone. It doesn't matter if your tall or short, pretty, not pretty, smart, not smart- she likes everybody. She has great friends. And Aledo is a great community.
Clay Glimmer, who works the stadium press box, said he was thrilled. "This has been such a special time, a special week for Kristin," he said. "And I was really taken by the maturity and the love shown by her friends, her peers, her classmates.
Kristin pronounced the evening "exciting" and "awesome."
She was so thrilled, her mother said, that she took her crown to bed with her.
Kristin and her family, including sister Kendall, now a freshman, moved to Aledo when Kristin was in the third grade.
She was embraced by the people in the town through good times and bad, including the death of her dad, J.T., two years ago.
and this article was in the DAM News this morning.
Town Rallied To Help Young Athlete in His Time of Need.
In January, when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer one day and underwent surgery the next, Wesley Hilly called it " a pretty big shock." When the cancer came back in June, the shock had spread with it. "Pretty much everything I was hoping for, " Wesley said, "was shot."
All that he'd hoped for his senior season of football in ABernathy, a West Texas Town of about 3,000 just north of Lubbock.

Wesley grew up big and smart. Big enough at 6-2, 190 pounds to play offensive tackle and defensive end for the Class A Antelopes; smart enough to start a few games as a sophomore.
But his prospects seemed remote and secondary with the news that came in June.
He would need nine weeks of chemotherapy. One week on, two weeks off. On weeks he received treatment, he was so sick he couldn't eat. On off weeks, he stuff himself to keep up his weight for football.
Still, he missed all of August and September.
Not that classmates and friends forgot. They left voice mails and sent text messages. They brought meals. Friends raised $5,000 at a car-wash. A small group of 9-year-0ld girls kicked in $300 from a lemonade stand. One group hawked yellow wristbands bearing Wesley's name. Another sold black ones imprinted with his No. 63.
On Wesley's birthday in August, when he was still too ill from the drugs to celebrate, a cheerleader took a video camera around town and recorded it's best wishes.
When football seemed so far away, Wesley's coach, Tony Truelove, brought his jersey to the hospital to give him something to focus on.
When the chemo made his hair fall out, teammates and coaches shaved their heads.
"It's all those little things in life," Lynthat said, explaining what it all meant, "that you don't learn are major until a time like this.
Finally, on Oct. 6, Wesley returned to practice Four days later, against Littlefield, he played the first game of his senior season.
Weakened by his ordeal, he was supposed to go in for a few plays on defense. But a starter got hurt, and Wesley played more than expected. But life doesn't always play like a fairy tale, as Wesley knows. In his first game back, Abernathy lost 36-35, on a last minute two-point conversion.
"Losing like that really hurts," Truelove said. "And then after the game you see Wesley's ol' bald head over there, and suddenly you have a greater appreciation for things.
"This transcends football."
Stories like this one generally do. Harper Lee, a small-town girl herself, once famously wrote, "Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between."
In Abernathy, they brought hope to Wesley Hill. There was nothing small about it.
ksherrington/DAM News.

Yup...I heart Texas.

23 comments:

Jan said...

Beautiful post. I'll stop thinking of Texans as...what I was thinking of them...

rainywalker said...

I never thought anything bad about Texas, they make good BBQ, the best chili and my daughter lives there. I knew all along they weren't all cowboy's. But Texas cow pies are still a two syllable word.

LostInColor said...

Two awesome stories!

PeeJay said...

That's cool. I saw a story on the news tonight about a developmentally challanged boy in the metroplex area that was voted homecoming king this past week. Our high school plays Aledo in football. Makes you proud that folks like that are here sharing our great State. We ain't all bad, even us cowgirls.

Heidi said...

It's great to hear some positive news about Texas for a change! Hooray!

Nit Wit said...

Those are great stories about great communities.
But Texas is still dominated by those nasty Republicans. Well at least for now.

Wendy said...

I love that it's from "The DAM News"

sageweb said...

Great stories...Texas would be heaven if the people just learned to vote Blue.

Intense Guy said...

Awww... those are great stories! It would be nice if the media would give stories like these more prominence... Heck, they could even cut back on the ink they spend on the football "news" in order to make space.

AngelConradie said...

oh what incredible stories!!!

Jill said...

The part about the coach and team shaving their heads made me tear up. That was an awesome post.

Anonymous said...

Perspective, Mama.

Thanks for that. I heart Texas too!

TheWayfarer said...

Reality is not something exclusive to the Lone Star state, but I get your meaning.
Wesley's story was a little close to home for me.

Woozie said...

Testicular cancer is not gangsta.

texlahoma said...

Cool, it's nice to hear something good.

Rox said...

Thanks for making me bawl so early in the morning Jackie!

Anonymous said...

That's a great story.

joy said...

Beautiful stories. There's a Down syndrome child in my husband's family. He's one of the most amazing people I've ever met. He sees things we all miss and always tells the truth. How cool is that?

david mcmahon said...

As a parent I have to say three cheers for this post.

RunninL8 said...

Owwwweeee!!!! The goosebumps on my arms HURT!
She took her crown to bed...
~SOB!~

Green tea said...

There are some good people out there.
Excuse me while i go get some Kleenix..

tsduff said...

I loved reading this post - although I'm easily reduced to tearing up lately anyway. What a great find - these hero stories are much prefered reading to all the bullshitcrapola going on in the news. Thanks so much for your wonderful and uplifting stories.

Josh said...

One, two, three...

Awwwwwwwwwwwww. It's nice to have the support of the community like that...