A day of running and jumping is in the books. The granddaughter finished ninth in the long jump, her 4X100 team finished 11th  and missed the finals, but her 4X400 finished third and will run again today. That third place gives them a decent chance of qualifying for state if all goes well and everyone runs fast and they finish either first or second. That would be a nice accomplishment. But keep in mind that just getting here is a big deal.

There are approximately 264 6A schools in the state of Texas with an average attendance of around 2,000 which means there are approximately 500,000 students. So, these young ladies represent the cream of the crop and got here through hard work and maximizing their talent. The few. I hope someone points that out to them, because what they’ve done just to this point is hard and takes work and they should be proud of it.

As for my granddaughter, her reward will be to run track for Sam Houston State next year. She’s excited. We’re excited. She’ll be a competing in the heptathlon. At some point she’ll start throwing the shot and javelin and learning to high jump. She already runs fast and jumps far. Her late grandmother would have been proud of her, but truth be told, she was proud of her kids and grandkids regardless of what they accomplished on any playing field. She just loved them for who they were, and wanted them to be nice people and they are, and isn’t that what we should all do, love them for who they are?

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale