Well as I woke up today on my 40th birthday, I was overwhelmed by all of the awesome birthday wishes from all of my friends. With that being said I wanted to take a moment to give a few gratitudes and platitudes to lots of people (this might get long, but too bad, Im 40 Ive earned it!) who helped me get to the fourth decade of my life and taught me lots of lessons. First of course to my parents, Pat Belcher and Bobby Belcher. They raised me with King James, Uncle Sam, and a little Alabama on the 8-Track. They loved me enough to let me make mistakes when needed, but werent afraid to whip my ass with a belt or make me cut a switch when I needed it. They never shoved religion down my throat but led me to Christ through how they lived their lives and treated other people with dignity and respect. They both worked amazingly hard, taught me to do the same, and that the size of your wallet or house didnt matter near as much as the size of your heart and the content of your character. Im thankful to my twin sister Heather Belcher Frye (wink, wink) and my brother Evan for letting me get in trouble and getting me in trouble enough to make growing up a blast in the Belcher household (oh those Lego meteors and sneaking out the bedroom window!) I have been blessed enough to be around Harmon and Linda, Marian and Art, Howard and JoAnne and everyone on the Raef side of things for all these years; as well as June and James Neill, Chad and Lana, Patsy and Bill, and of course good ol Chuck in Missouri. Growing up and roaming the streets of Amarillo with Greg Goodson, James Fuller, and Lincoln Cunningham, as well as David K Browning I could count on Bob and Ann Goodson, Susan and Gary Fuller, and Jerry and Peggy Johnson to set me straight with a kick in the pants or a thrown shoe around a corner if I got a little too lippy. I had the opportunity to play football with the best group of guys ever on the 92 Sandie Football team, and be coached by some amazing men in the process such as Larry Dippel, Joe Bain, Jim Langdon, George Cobb, Gene Segura, Bill Narrell, Coach Nash, Jim Ray, and of course Paul Chandler. After graduation and college I entered what I consider to be the greatest profession in the world Education. Randy Mayes took a chance on me at Odessa Permian way back in 98 and he will always be like my Dad in the coaching business. Back then I got to be around Roy Williams, Leland Morris, and Dez and it was quite the experience. As I grew older in age and the coaching profession I was blessed enough to work for great head coach like Larry Hanna, Hal Wasson, Tony Baccarini, and of course Brian Polk at Byron Nelson. Along the way I have made lifelong friends in the Trifecta Trey Bandy and Mike Wyrick. Coy Brown has been like an older brother to me (you are welcome Nicole Brown for hooking yall up!). In my time Ive gotten to be around Byron Bode, Richie Trotter, Neal Tweedie, Todd St. John, Sam Callis, Clint Fuller, and all the other football guys at Byron Nelson, Ive never had more fun and miss you all badly everyday!!! In my lifetime I have been lucky enough to find love, lose love, and also sadly, push love away. I am eternally thankful for my wonderful son Callon who let me spend 15 amazing years with other peoples kids, I am so happy to have spent the last three with you!!!! Words do not do justice to how much I love you and how proud you make me! A special thanks goes to Shannon Gerber-Layman and her husband Michael. What a wonderful mom and step-dad yall have been to Callon, not once have I ever had to lose sleep wondering if he is ok! I would be remiss if I forgot to mention all of the amazing principals who have have helped mold me and my teaching craft into what it is today. Thanks to Steve Brown, Ben Rambo, Todd Tunnell, and David Hadley for being awesome. A special thanks goes out to Linda Parker for never letting me accept average from myself and Dr. Ron Myers, I look forward to the future at BNHS with you and your crew. To my hall mates at Byron, Sara Sarah Menn, Melissa Granger, and Parween Noori, you ladies have steered me through thick and thin. To all my English Peeps at The Ridge I miss yall! To the hundreds of students Ive taught over the years you have made every minute worth it when I see you graduate from college, get married and have kids of your own. To close my long winded post I would like to quote the great poet Robert Frost. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made ALL THE DIFFERENCE. Thanks to all for the last 40 years, and I look forward to the next 80 more!
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 22:30:47 +0000