We had a pretty busy week! After attending the Special Needs Rodeo (http://www.wacotrib.com/search/mediahub/media/slideshow/index.jsp?tId=192794) on Wed night, we returned to College Station so Tacey could go to school and Michael could go to work Thur. After school, we again headed back to Waco for Tough Enough To Wear Pink night at the rodeo. Tacey appeared with Miss Rodeo Texas and the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo Queen. She thought she was Belle of the Rodeo!
Friday morning we headed to Ft. Worth for the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon. Devin, Miss Rodeo Texas, was also there along with Courtney, Miss Rodeo Austin. Tacey was excited to see both of them and pose for pictures. She also got to meet Laura Bush and Nolan Ryan. Of course, Michael was a lot more excited about meeting Nolan than Tacey. Don’t tell him, but we had to explain to her who Nolan was and why it was a big deal to meet him! Laura Bush needed no explanation. Tacey knew exactly who she was and was very excited to finally get to meet her.
We also talked with friends from Rodeo Houston and the Miss Rodeo Texas organization. We were shown Tacey’s picture with former Miss Rodeo Texas, Avery, in the latest Rodeo Houston magazine. Here is the link to the magazine: http://www.rodeohouston.com/about/h-magazine/issues/09fall/HMag_final.pdf
We got to visit with family after leaving the Hall of Fame. Michael’s grandmother just got out of the hospital. At the age of 89, her health is failing fairly quickly and any opportunity to spend time with her is precious! We spent the night at Memaw’s, Michael’s mom, house.
Unfortunately, we had to get up REALLY early Sat morning in order to head to Lubbock! Of course, it was worth it because of the reason for the trip.
We got to Lubbock just in time to drop stuff off at our hotel and rush to the arena to practice with Tuff. Since Tacey has only had Tuff about a month, we needed to test a few things to be sure Tuff wouldn’t spook during the big performance. They had a wonderful practice and all of us breathed a sigh of relief!
We got ready at the hotel and then headed back to the arena for the big debut of Bucking for the Gold. Tacey and Tuff may be Tough Enough To Wear Pink, but this night they were proud to sparkle and shine in red, white, blue and GOLD as they paraded the US flag around the arena during the National Anthem. The announcer told Tacey’s story as she entered and exited the arena. The crowd was on their feet.
During the event, one of the riders was selected to ride Big Mike. Championship Bull Riding Board Member Lyndal Hurst is a dear friend and raises bucking bulls in Slaton. "Most of the guys like to get on my bulls, except for Big Mike bull - he's been ridden one time," said Hurst. (http://www.kcbd.com/Global/story.asp?S=11330030) Tacey was secretly very happy Big Mike was the bull chosen for Bucking for the Gold because she knew Lyndal would donate all $1000 back to Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation. We normally root for the cowboys, but sometimes we have to root for the bulls! This is one time we were rooting for the bull! Guess what! The bull won so Tacey and Lyndal met at the center of the arena. Tacey presented Lyndal with the bonus checks which he ceremoniously presented right back to her! It was great! Again, the crowd was on their feet.
Tacey dedicated the evening to her friend, Ian. Ian and Tacey met in Maine at the camp for families of children with Retinoblastoma. They are the same age. Ian’s Rb was not discovered until it was very advanced unfortunately. An MRI a few weeks ago showed the cancer was back and in the bones around his eye socket. He started chemo again this past week.
We will be mailing a package to Ian with a CBR bull fighting jersey signed by all the bull riders and bull fighters, a special belt buckle and a special hat. We will also include a video of the night’s events along with some other fun collectibles. We cannot take away his pain or anything else, but we can let him know he is loved!
A friend of , Michelle, told her dad Tacey’s story. Her dad owns KoKo Club, Mesquite’s and The Oyster Bar family of Restaurants & Clubs which hosted the pre and post CBR party. A local radio station got a letter from a young boy with terminal cancer. It was the dream of this young man to be a bull rider. The very generous business owner couldn’t make that particular dream come true, but he and Michelle did what they could to make the event special for the young man and his family. They got him behind the scenes passes so he could meet the cowboys and get their autographs, they brought him and his family to the arena in their limo and showed all of them a very special time!
One of the best things about the evening was getting to spend time with family and friends. We got to visit very briefly, too briefly, with some folks who live in Lubbock and we rarely get to see. Unfortunately, things were so crazy and we were so busy that we didn’t get to see some friends we were really excited about seeing! That was disappointing.
We have this week off and then head back to the rodeo trail. We will stay in touch!
The CINCH CBR West Texas Showdown Presented by Frontier Dodge. will be broadcast on Great American Country (GAC) and premiers on November 10, 2009.
Copyright 1996 - 2008 Rodeo Attitude, LLC., All rights reserved.