that the boys team from Tri Cities had won the state championship for the TSAAC(Christian schools) in basketball. And #22 was there again on Caleb Rose! Way to represent, Caleb! Caleb asked to wear #22 when he came to play at TCCS. He and Carol were good friends when he was a yung fella, and I know she would be happy athis success this year (and his brother Aaron, too).
For reference, in 2010 when Cooper was a senior, the boys won the state basketball championship.The girls were there playing for the second year in a row, but they had not gotten their taste of a championship win, but they were next in line. In the 2010 tourney the girls were playing with heavy hearts because their beloved Coach Anderson had just died from colon cancer.The girls were not successful winning a state championship but they sure would have made Coach proud! The next two years (2010-2011 & 2011-2012)the girls won the state championship with Carol Hensley (#22) taking MVP honors. The next year the two teams were going back to near Nashville to play in the state tourney again, when they heard Carol had died. The TCCS girls put Carol's jerzee (#22) on a chair at the end of the seats for the players and played their hearts out..AND they won! They had dominated teams and came home with the 3rd
Championship for the girls basketball program( '11,'12, '13).The girls team was hit by tragedy again when Coach Jack Blevins passed after a hard fought battle against cancer in early 2015. But the one constant each time the girls played in the regional or state games was Coach Leuzinger's pink converse she would wear.
So maybe this is the start again of great runs for the girls with next years team.....who knows?
Two friends met-up with me with me to see the Lady Vols play their last home game of the 2018 season on Feb 25th against South Carolina at Knoxville, and lady Vols won!(recall Carol & Cooper went to see the UT men basketball team play Florida the night before she died?)
The next thing was Caroline Singletary (Carol's sister-in-law) had blogged about Carol's death and how it changed her life's perspective. She said it took her 5 years to get the courage up to write about it. It is excellent! Go to
www.carolinesingletary.com to read it.A dear friend of mine, Tammy Rowe, was able to eat lunch with me on the
Feb 27,2018. We spoke about how long and short 5 years has been and I told her about how the the weekend had gone, we smiled as we knew her spirit was still among us in very special ways.
And on March 3, 2018 (the 5year anniversary of Carol's "Celebration of Life")
I was in Knoxville again to hear a bereaved mother speak to a group in and around the Knoxville area who have experienced the death of a child. I had read the book this speaker had written about the single car accident that took her teen son's life, it is "Grief:A Momma's Unwanted Journey " by Shelley Ramsey. It was such a great honor to meet her (and I gave her a copy of my book about Carol, "Carol's Smile.")
As I look back on the last couple of weekends surrounding the 5th year of my daughters death, I think so many friends and family have helped me get through this difficult time. And I know I am closer to seeing her again Thank you all for your concern for Cooper, too! I think he is the best kind of guy and I would ask you to pray for him, cause I know it is hard for him as well.
And I pray that we all can keep her legacy and her love and her spirit alive for anyone here who needs to witness it.
judy
mar 5, 2018
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