Why does it seem that those who challenge us the
most are the least forgotten?
I was recently reminded.
Dave Brooks has spent his entire life giving back to
his community. He's a Special Education teacher at
River City High School for those students with
mental disabilities. He's also the tennis coach of a
team that is dominated by low-income Asian
families and yet, for more than ten years now Dave
has lead that team to championships and undefeated
seasons like no other. He has taken people who know
little of success and groomed them to be champions.
I was fortunate enough to be a part of the beginning,
the first three undefeated seasons and league
championships. It was apparent then that Dave's
commitment to challenging everyone around him
to be something better was very strong. However,
I never realized the extent of that until I wasn't
around it anymore.
A week back I visited Dave to find him in good
spirits and about to travel to Arizona with his parents
to pick up his sister, who was undergoing experimental
treatment for seizures she had throughout most of her
life. Dave was the same jovial, challenging spirit that I
have never forgotten. He cracked jokes, but was stern
on the court and still contained the same, unwavering
commitment to a team I once had the pleasure to be a
part of. To say his spirit is contagious would be a vast
understatement.
Yesterday, I visited him again to find a different man.
Unfortunately, on April 13, 2007, after picking his sister
up from Arizona and bringing her back to West Sacramento
California, Dave's sister passed away in her parent's home.
Most people would walk away from their lives, most
would want to crawl up into a ball and find a place in the
dark. Yet, there I was, on the tennis court, with Dave, as
he spoke to his team, just three days after his sister's
passing. He struggled with every breath and was clearly
breaking down inside, but refusing to let it get the better
of him.
Why? Because it's the end of the season and again, the
team is poised to take the top spot in the league. Some
may feel that is miniscule in light of the events, but Dave
understands what most don't; his commitment to giving
people something better to live for extends beyond
himself. There are people counting on him and even in
his greatest time of need he's not going to let them down.
He's struggling, but he'll win; his team will win, that I can
assure you.
He's a man of unwavering principle, someone who has
spent his entire life pushing others to be something
bigger and better than they ever thought they could.
And even now, given the untimely passing of his sister,
Dave and his family request that in lieu of flowers,
donations be sent in Amy Lynn Brooks' name to the
Barrow Neurological Foundation, in hopes that the
experimental treatment she received will become less
experimental and more scientific; that with the hope
and support of others, Amy's passing will bring about
a bright future for someone else.
Even in his greatest time of need, Dave will not stop
thinking of others. And, so I pondered why it is that
those who challenge us the most are often the least
forgotten and it's clear to me that anyone who takes
the lives of others' in his hands and never uses 'good
enough' as the standard is creating a better world
that we all should be happy to live in, a world that
isn't what we don't have, but how we can live to
create something for those who have less.
Thank you, Dave!
Donate to the Barrow Neurological Foundation, HH Program
in Amy's Name.
Contact Us here to send Dave an email of support.
Sign a
GuestBook Online to Amy and her family.
And, most of all, when you come across this story,
send it to every person you know - For Dave!
