This weekend I got to spend about 28 hours in Houston. Everyone kept complaining about how hot is was while I just soaked it up, humidity and all. Yesterday it was 59 degrees in Charlotte people! Be grateful you're getting the benefits of lots of Vitamin D while I still freeze walking to my car in the morning on the way to work.
So why was I in Houston a mere 28 hours you might ask?
If you haven't already figured it out by the title, I was a witness to Tom's wedding. Yes, Tom Hicks is married.
I couldn't make it to the rehearsal dinner, but Will stood in for me and read my toast. It's kind of long, so I'll spare you any further comments...
First off, I am so sad not to get to share this speech in person and be with all of you tonight, but since I can’t make it to Houston until tomorrow, Will so graciously agreed to stand in for me. So just picture Will with long hair, a higher voice, and much skinnier, and it’s like I’m actually here. I mean if you’re friends with Tom, I am confident that you have been talked into crazier things in your life than this.
When I think of Tom, so many things come to mind: the
Trainstopper, football, the
Robonian Monster, Colorado, stunting in the pool, taunting truckers with CV radios, youth group and the Cone of Silence being the only thing I was ever excluded from on the basis of being a girl, Tom always giving me shotgun in Will’s car, getting 2 million dollars from Tom when he becomes a millionaire (I’m still waiting on that one), but I settled on one memory that shows the essence of Tom’s character in my mind.
Rewind exactly 10 years…
After little cajoling, I convinced Tom and Will to try-out for cheerleader for our senior year of high school. Notice I said little as they quickly came to the conclusion that
cheerleading meant hanging out with a bunch of girls everyday as opposed to running up and down a basketball court or wrestling with sweaty guys on a mat.
Knowing Tom’s penchant for enduring pain and taking risks, I immediately tagged him as my stunt partner, and we practiced throwing stunts all summer in my pool to prepare for cheer camp and the upcoming season. Once camp rolled around, we were feeling pretty comfortable with trying these stunts on solid ground without the protection of the water in case he dropped me. Before the bus pulled out to take us to camp, my mom accosted Tom making him promise that he
wouldn’t let me hit the ground. Tom confidently pledged this to her but not without letting her know that his pride was slightly wounded that she would think such a thing was possible.
Camp went pretty smoothly until the last night. It was our chance to contend for the honor of All-American Cheerleader. Each participant had to try out individually in the middle of Baylor’s basketball arena with the whole camp watching. Talk about intimidating. When he got to the stunting part of his tryout, I joined him on the court. Will may need to act this out for you guys so you can get a true picture, but Tom throws me in the air by the waist with the intent of catching my feet in his hands at shoulder level where I then stand upright and cheer on the crowd. But somehow the stunt went terribly wrong. As he grabs my feet, my toes point forward tipping me face first towards the court. My life flashes before my eyes. With ninja like reflexes, Tom dives under me just in time for me to land flat on his back consequently knocking his chin into the floor. The crowd was silent, not believing the amazing save they had just witnessed. After it was all over, Tom matter-of-
factly commented, “Hey, I promised your mom you would not hit the floor. So you were not going to hit the floor.”
The point of the story is this, when you are friends with Tom, he may let you fall, but he’ll take the hit for you every time.
Here are some pics of the big day. Actually to be accurate here is
a picture because it takes way too long to post photos on this thing; plus, according to my brother that lives in Hawaii, I look
like a ghost, so I refuse to splash those pictures all over my blog. You'll have to hunt them down on
Facebook instead:
Me, Brent, Tom, and Will
Congratualtions Tom and Gina!
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