By Allen Hamrick
Everybody goes through life believing and dreaming of a time when they realize everything they ever want or need is in their grasp and all it takes is perseverance and dedication to those dreams to make them a reality. Through support from family, a good education and a community that cares, many of our youth realize their dreams. However, sometimes storms hit, life changes and we are faced with challenges that may seem as though everything that matters becomes a hill that a person just can’t climb. All the dreams you had are suddenly beyond the horizon that you can see at that moment. Every day things that were taken for granted have now become a necessity.
We stand in awe and wonder how, as the years pass, it could happen, but it does and understanding why becomes a daily unanswered question. Strength and will become the rule of the day; who you are and what you are made of determines your fight. That will and strength decide what kind of individual you are and if you have what it takes to overcome the challenges that block your path. Dreams often change, and that strength and will makes you realize that all the challenges are often not to destroy your life but to help you understand why and create a new path with new dreams. There are those that hang their heads and would give up at the first sign of change, but Katie Price is not one of those people.
Katie, who has just left CCMS to go on to CCHS, has been thrown one of those challenges that will ultimately change your life. She refuses to succumb to what she is facing and will rise up from it because that is who she is, as Reba McEntire said in a song – a survivor. Our youth often have more strength in their little fingers than most adults when it comes to challenges, and they do what needs to be done. They have watched their parents, uncles, aunts, grandparents, friends and neighbors and have learned by their examples.
This past Friday evening, the community came together in support of Katie and her family at the Kick It for Katie event sponsored by the CCHS athletic Boosters. There was Dunk the Donut, Frisbee throwing, field goal kicking, corn hole competitions and several food and vendor tables there for participants to enjoy and show their support for Katie. Generations of giving families run deep in this county, and we come together to turn a tough time back into a normal day. We as a community are in a situation where normalcy has taken a back seat to uncertainty. Clay County people see a need, step up and do their best in meeting that need. Harsh times are a tough instructor, and they will show us a side of ourselves that we didn’t know existed. It has been said that a smooth sea never made a good sailor, neither does uninterrupted success or easy living qualify us as tough, strong willed people. It is storms like this one that Katie is going through that rouse a new faculty within us that fuels our intestinal fortitude to help her in whatever way she and her family needs. Katie has great purpose, and she must keep her will and determination focused on getting better and whatever this community can do to make that happen, it needs to do it and it is being done.
The actions of most people in this county are ones of humbleness in the respect that anyone at anytime can be thrust into the same situation. Albert Pike said, “What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” To Katie Price – this county has you and your family’s back. I am sure many stories of strength, honor, and love will come out in the months ahead as she progresses toward one hundred percent recovery. The battle is never over – hope is what we have, it’s what drives us to never give up because it is always there. Hope is in this county’s heart. Get well soon Katie Price!
