Tyson Hugh Hooper

Tyson Hugh Hooper
Our son, Tyson Hugh Hooper, was born with coarctation of the aorta, hypoplastic arch, and a transitional avsd. His first open heart surgery reconstructed his aorta and was on day 9 of life. His second open heart repair was not anticipated to be needed until two or three years of age. Ty had other plans. We spent the vast majority of his first 3 months of life at Vanderbilt as he went into heart failure and was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. As a result, the medical team concluded that he needed the repair much sooner than usually recommended, and at just shy of 3 months old Ty underwent his second life saving open heart surgery. God has already worked so many miracles in Ty's life and the life of our family and we know he is using our story. Because of this, we are grateful for Ty's special heart and feel beyond blessed that God chose us to travel this road. We ask for prayers as Ty continues to heal. We are praying for a full recovery and life without restrictions for Ty. We are praying for God to use our family and Ty for His glory.

Thank you to each and every person who supports us through prayer, giving, or just by loving on our family! We are humbled and blessed by all of the ways the Lord is providing for us and know that he is using Ty and his story to do great things!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Team Mom...


This has been a very busy last three days. I spent much of my time at MTSU watching my middle school's basketball boys at team camp! (Okay, so it doesn't hurt that my best friend, Chris, is their head coach, lol) I have to brag for a moment... I think this group of guys is by far the coolest group of boys EVER and their coach is THE BEST EVER TOO! Chris has so much passion and his heart is in it for the kids and he works for them, it is so great! The bond he has already formed with these boys is mirrored in their eyes and in their actions! The boys have such great character, are always polite, and are DANG good on the court! I love them because they are from our somewhat "underprivileged" school and these boys can ball, let me tell you! We played a total of 8 games and 7 teams and we only lost two! We beat all the teams from our county that we will play in regular season with ease and beat Grace Baptsit's high school freshman team! In one game we even started our third string (the boys that don't get a lot of playing time - it was cool for coach to let them start), got 21 points down, and then came back for the win in double over time. I loved that game because it was cool for the third stringers to get a whole quarter to themselves as STARTERS and it also taught our boys how to keep heart and come back from behind (something they -proudly- don't get too much practice at, they are used to being ahead). The two teams we lost to were MBA and CPA... two private schools that recruit and we never play in regular season and have never played before. MBA beat us by 9 I think and CPA didn't beat us the first time they played us... the second time they played us they brought an entire starting lineup in from the high school team, lol, and only then did they win... and left their starters in ALL GAME!
Anyway, if you don't like basketball this is getting really boring, so I will wrap it up by explaining the title. I have said many times about "my kids" that "I would take him home and raise him as my own if I could!" (THAT is how cool these kids are!). At camp this week it was mostly coaches and some parents and several times I was asked, "which one is yours?" Finally, instead of replying, "well, none of them are actually mine..." I started saying, "they all are!" :-) I have a passion for these kids and they are going to do great things. Therefore, I have proclaimed myself, team mom... because in my heart they are all my babies and I intend to be there every step of the way this basketball season and this year! :-) My title was solidified for me when the boys came in the gym for the next game and as they came in several of them came straight to me and gave me a big hug beforehand... I'm tellin' you, this is SOME group of kids and I am one proud "team mom!"

4 comments:

Sarah said...

Oh That's so cool! Glad you enjoy it, and I'm sure the guys appreciate you as much as they do Chris!

Kim said...

I'm not surprised a bit!

Megan L Hutchings said...

Being a "team mom" sounds like the perfect role for you. I hope that we can come watch a few games :)!

It always makes me proud when one of our boys / kids truly excel in life!

Rosie said...

That's is awesome Meagan! You really do sound so proud. Sounds like a lot of fun, too!