Thursday, July 14, 2011

Travis Bigham Benefit ~ Part II

The benefit for Travis was so AMAZING!
It had everything............
a prayer of thanksgiving, hope & love,
delicious food, nine awesome bands
that played all day, face painting,
hair spray, jumpers, a pinata,
"Pray for Travis" bracelets were
given out at the door,
"BE BOLD" car stickers donated
by Melanie Massey (as in MoJoy!)
were also handed out,
a silent and live auction,
LOTS of people, and of course
the BEST part of allllllllllll:
Superman Himself!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One of the singers learned and prepared
the song "That's my Son" to sing
to Lynna and Travis....
Talk.about.a.Tear.Jerker!!!
Thank you, Rodney.
Hudson was a little overwhelmed by the
entire day and no nap, etc.  He would
not go to anyone...other than me or
TRAVIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Look at Travis...just taking it all in...
laughing and smiling at his friends. 
What a PERFECT day!
This is Ella Reid.
She is a precious little girl in Walker's class.
I met her mom on the phone one night when
I called to ask her to do something for
the PTA.  As we were getting off the phone,
she said, "I know you don't know me,
but I'm following your nephew's story
and I'm praying for him."
She and I bonded immediately
and I love this PRECIOUS family
so very much.  Such genuine people.
Ella Reid's mom, Melissa, prays for Lynna
to have "strength for each day
and hope for each tomorrow."
I love that:)
This is Colton...he is also in Walker's class.
He and his family just showed up
after Walker invited everyone and his teachers
sent an e-mail to all the parents about it.
Fun face painting:)
The Hoodies were there OF COURSE!!!
Pam and Shannon...LOVE them so,
so much!  Even Pam's sweet parents came...
just to show their support and love.
Lynna and her beautiful
 best friend from work...Andrea:)
Mrs. Heather's little boy, Brady.
He has been so faithful to pray for Travis.
These little lives affected by all of this
mean so very much to my family and me.
Mrs. Donahoo came back later that day so
she could see Walker (he was gone earlier playing
in his baseball game AND hitting a homerun!).
How wonderful and supportive
is it that BOTH of Walker's teachers
came that day!  We are just so blessed:)
I still can't believe it, but Lynna
came up on stage and thanked everyone
who put the shindig on and to everyone
who came and who has prayed for us.
She also thanked the Merritts,
Michelle and me.  She then
said the most moving thank you
to my parents.  She told everyone how
she never could have made it had they
not done all they did while Travis
was in Austin.  THEN, she called
Hunter on stage and said the sweetest
things about HIM.  In fact, she said
that Hunter has always been the best
child.  We looked down and Travis
was shaking his head yes!!!  ha!
Finally, Lynna spoke directly
to Travis and told him just how proud
she is of him and how he is her hero.
Lynna's strength amazes me. 
Absolutely.Amazes.Me.
Travis sat in the middle of the
crowd and took it all in....
I was leaning forward reminding her of things;)
Then Scott stood up and also
gave a very moving and grateful speech.
I almost forgot...Lynna also thanked
Garrett!  I thought that was so perfect
and SO well-deserved!!!
Talking about our Hunter B:)
Then we rushed off stage to go
and put our hands on Travis
while Lynna's INCREDIBLE
friend, Mike Cleveland, said a prayer.
A prayer of GRATITUDE, HOPE
and LOVE.....it was the absolute
BEST part of the entire day.
Then it was time for the LIVE auction!
There was a couple of HUGE
Texas Ranger items...
like a Josh Hamilton signed ball
and a Michael Young bat. 
Garrett wanted that baseball
SO BAD, but the price just kept going
waaaaay up and he had to stop his
bidding.  Then he REALLY wanted the
bat and the same thing started happening
again.  SO Troy, Michelle, Lynna...all of
us ran over to Garrett and started giving
him money so he could win the
bat and HE DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were so happy for our Garrett!!!
There was an awesome 4 wheeler that Troy
wanted.;)  Tess, Trav's friend, did a great
job as the model!!!  Walker's friend,
Colton, and his family bought the 4 wheeler!:)
Travis enjoyed the day so much.
Scott was supposed to take Travis
home early evening and we all
DREADED that...BUT Trav was
having such a great day, that they
decided to let him stay until VERY LATE!
Lynna and Mike Cleveland. 
He is a friend from high school.
 He and his family
have been so generous and supportive
and FAITHFUL to pray.
His sweet daughter, too:)
There's not enough blog space for me
to write about the Reeds.  As I've said
before, I called Robin on my way to
the hospital to ask her to pray.  This
was before I really knew anything.
The next thing I knew she was at
the hospital like the angel she is.
She and Casey have been so
incredibly GENEROUS and
THOUGHTFUL to my entire family...
especially Lynna.  They are truly
good, Christian friends...
and are really just like family now.
I am beyond grateful to this
family of five..............
I love you, Robin Reed!
My sister from another mister!!!;)
Trav's high school principal,
Mrs. Canuteson!!!
My beloved beautiful next door hoodies,
The Nemecs.  Again, just incredible Christian
friends who happen to live right next door.
They stepped right in from day one
taking care of us in so many, many ways.
Elizabeth 'gets' this and 'feels' all of this
in such a way that I can't adequately describe.
  She is truly a beautiful
person in every way possible.  I appreciate
her compassion and empathy
more than she could ever imagine.
I love you guys so much, Nemecs!!!
Thank you for EVERYTHING!
TEAM TRAVIS creators!!!
The silent auction was such a success...
SO many of my friends from high school,
college, current, and every where in
between donated for this shindig.
I will forever be grateful.......................
We tried to list everyone who contributed...
Shannon and Brad Brown...see that?
Unbelievable what ya'll sent.
The workers at Old Navy who put
together an awesome package...
I just know them from shopping in there so much;)
Ashley and Neil Moore...
Troy drove me crazy all night trying
to win the Microsoft Windows!  And he did:)
I am ONLY naming a few...........
I could go on and on!
Sweet, sweet supportive girlfriends of Travis!
LOVE and ADORE them!
Maylan and Lindsay were selling the
AWESOME benefit shirts
that LOGAN designed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That was SOOOOOOOOOOOO cool!!!
I'm a proud AUNT!:)
The auctioneer:)
Sweet Hunter B & the Hudsy Puds...
At one point in the evening, I was sitting at
my parents' table and happened to look at
the middle of the dance floor to see Macy
and Travis sitting there.  They were leaned
towards each other laughing, smiling......
just being my niece and my nephew.
For the first time in a LONG time,
things seemed so normal.
For just that very few moments...
it was the highlight of my day.
I've loved these two since the
second I knew of their existence.
My first boy love and my first girl love.
I am honored to be their aunt:)
Becky and Lynna grew up together.
Becky was in charge of EVERYTHING.
What a true and amazing friend....................
This guy was all over that benefit;)
Lynna asked me to put together some boards
showing pictures of Trav's entire journey.
Most people did not get to go back
and see Travis during those very most
crititcal first few weeks and then
we didn't share pictures during
the almost four months that he
was in a coma.  We didn't want to
make people sad by seeing these
pictures, but rather for people
to see the more of the miracle...
Such wonderful friends....
Our family felt so very loved that day:)
The most amazing parents/grandparents
 in the world!!!
Scott & Dana
were so awesome!!!
There were some limo packages in the
silent auction.  Haddie Girl wanted to win that;)
Aunt Kitty with some of her winnings;)
So sweet...Haddie LOVES her
Logolo!  How AWESOME are the
shirts he designed?!?
Two of my very most favorite guys;)
Sweet, oh so sweet................
Hunter with his girlfriends:)))
Funny faces:) 
These two have always been a hoot!
Another incredible friend from high school to Lynna...
Garrett with Kimberly Kelly...
she was the headliner.  A fabulous
and upcoming singer:)
The Pack Girls...like family to us:)
Our beautiful and wonderful
Aunt Kitty and Uncle Ronald.
LOVE love LOVE them so dearly!
Hudson finally crashed and my sweet dad
was more than willing to give me a break...
Love you Ash! 
 (Macy's best friend from high school)...
Colton spent the rest of the day and night with us.
Check them out in their new shirts:)
Such a sweet friend of Trav's...
he participated in a triathalon with Skye
and some other Baylor girls just so he
could be with hot girls;)))
She's my friend now, too:)
This was towards the end of the night
and Travis was getting really tired...
although he would NEVER admit it!!!
How cute are they?!?
My beautiful big/little sister.
I love her so much!!!
We have bonded in a way that I could
never describe in words.
The most kind hearted person I know.
So attentive, so loving, so Michelle!
The Merritts:)
Lynna and Skye
This is the amazing Amber...Alyssa's sister.
She came all the way from Corpus to
help out at the benefit.  She is one
amazing chick and I love her to death!
I wrote to our local news stations before
the benefit.  The day I sent the e-mail to
News Channel 6, I received a reply
from Myra Arthur...their lead anchor.
She did an awesome story the night
before the benefit and then sent a
crew out to the actual benefit and
ran another story that very night. 
I never could get it recorded, but
as I watched it on my computer
I took some pictures;)
I stopped dead in my tracks that Friday night
when I saw the story on the tv and then the tears
rolled down my face.  What a story
Travis has to tell!  I pray to God that he is
given the chance to TRULY tell his
own story with words from HIS own mouth. 
His thumbs up;)
Check out Aunt Michelle with those
cheerleader arms cheering on our boy!!!:)
Aunt Mindy was even interviewed;)
I was so honored to brag on my nephew
AND give ALLLLLL the glory to God!
How sweet that the news story
ended with a picture of Travis
smiling and holding Hudson.
My sweet kindred spirits...
and to think, I so worried several
months ago that Hudson would never
really know Travis. 
  As we have said since July 25, 2010,
God has been right with us every single
step of the way and Saturday, April 16th 
was absolutely no different!

It was truly a miracle of a
day celebrating a miracle!!!  

This is an excerpt from my
Caringbridge entry about the benefit...

Don’t you dare even think I am not going to describe how INSPIRING it was to have Travis Superman Bigham there himself.  I still get the chills thinking about when he first arrived and Lynna pushed him into the main room.  Everyone clapped and cheered like he was a famous celebrity!  If Travis were writing this update himself he would totally spell out, “DUH” (one of his favorite texts these days!)…because he IS famous now!!!  Then when Travis (with help from his dad and his awesome nurse and therapist who came with him from CNS) STOOD up…well, it was just AWE-INSPIRING.   A real life miracle!!!  God has truly performed a miracle and so many were able to witness it first hand on that Saturday.  Thank you Sweet Jesus for shining through every moment of the benefit. 

I have SO MANY highlights…too many to list, but I must just share this one…  At one point in the evening I happened to look out where Travis was seated in the middle of the dance floor to see him and Macy shoulder to shoulder listening to the band, laughing, smiling…and for one moment in time, things seemed so normal to me.  Travis and Macy (my sister Michelle’s oldest daughter who is one year younger than Travis) literally grew up together…just like brother and sister…loving each other like crazy and sometimes even fighting like crazy.  It warmed this aunt’s heart to see them as I’ve watched them and loved them for the last 21 years.  It brought on a wave of emotions.  Travis is the type of person who would have loved to attend a benefit like that to honor and support someone.  He would have been the life of the party!  Travis has always been so open and kind to all people…no matter who they were or what they were like.  He’s always had a good heart.  Several times that day my heart hurt over the fact that Travis wasn’t able to run around flashing his million dollar smile charming the socks off everyone he meets.  Trav’s sweet Senior English teacher wrote to me after the benefit and I thought her words were so profound:  “It breaks my heart knowing how active, clever, and fun-loving Travis was before the accident and how restricted his communication is now.”  Her words are SO TRUE! 

Life is very different now though and thankfully Travis is amazing in a new, different way.   Now he is like a superhero!  I watched him graciously pose for pictures all day long and listen intently as people spoke to him.  It was so cool to see him give a thumbs up to so many and also immediately sign “thank you” to his sweet nurse from Hillcrest whom I introduced him to for the first time.  We take great heart in the fact that Travis is changing/has changed so many lives with his journey…especially the lives of so many little kids.  Maybe they will never forget this story and it will help them to make better choices when they are older.  Lynna was SO TOUCHED by my dear college friend’s little girl named Judy Scott (they came from Dallas to attend the event).  Judy is a precious little six year old girl who looked at Lynna and said, “I’m so sorry for what happened to Travis.”  God is moving through people of all ages.

1 comment:

  1. Oh my sweetness! I would have given anything to be there!
    xxx

    ReplyDelete

Posted with LOVE by Trendy Mindy