by Jeff Adams
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I pen my column this week.
This past Tuesday night, my biggest fan, and one of the most passionate racing fans, passed away.
My mom introduced me to racing at a fairly young age. As an enticement to get good grades, I was promised with trips to Peoria Speedway, which had become my most favorite thing to do. It worked, as I excelled in school.
As I grew up, my passion for racing grew into an obsession. I did a radio show on racing, and began to write for various racing publications. I also picked up some announcing gigs along the way.
All along, my biggest supporter was my mother, who has never missed one of my announcing jobs, and who once brought 20 people to a live radio remote I did. They were the only 20 people to show up other that the production staff.
My mom loved short-tracks, and every year we went to races together. This past summer, we went to Farmer City to watch a UMP special. During the races, the tornado siren went off, and the sheriff forced the track to stop racing due to dangerous weather conditions. A mere 3 miles from the track, a tornado had touched down.
Remarkably, the bad weather passed, and they were able to get the race in. It would be the last time my mother and I will ever get to sit in the stands together and cheer on our favorites. Looking back, I think a higher power must have known this was our last hurrah, and allowed that tornado to miss the track.
Mom was a huge fan of Kenny Schrader, Tony Stewart, Roger Long, Jerry Roedell and Don Bohlander. Racing was her favorite sport, but her family was her passion and her life.
Now, at the all too young age of 56, my mom has moved on to cheering on all her favorites in Heaven. The loss of my mother is the most devastating thing I have ever gone through, and is even tougher with 12, 11, 3, and 2 year-olds around who loved their grandma with all their hearts. It is gut-wrenching to explain to a 3 year old that he will never see his Grandma Kathy again.
We have a huge void in all of our lives now. Holidays will never be the same without my mom. She loved getting the family together and cooking up a storm. It was all about spending time with her loved ones.
Everyone reading this should hug their kids harder, and don’t hold back feelings of love for all your friends and relatives. As I learned this week, things can change in an instance.
Life is truly too short.
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I pen my column this week.
This past Tuesday night, my biggest fan, and one of the most passionate racing fans, passed away.
My mom introduced me to racing at a fairly young age. As an enticement to get good grades, I was promised with trips to Peoria Speedway, which had become my most favorite thing to do. It worked, as I excelled in school.
As I grew up, my passion for racing grew into an obsession. I did a radio show on racing, and began to write for various racing publications. I also picked up some announcing gigs along the way.
All along, my biggest supporter was my mother, who has never missed one of my announcing jobs, and who once brought 20 people to a live radio remote I did. They were the only 20 people to show up other that the production staff.
My mom loved short-tracks, and every year we went to races together. This past summer, we went to Farmer City to watch a UMP special. During the races, the tornado siren went off, and the sheriff forced the track to stop racing due to dangerous weather conditions. A mere 3 miles from the track, a tornado had touched down.
Remarkably, the bad weather passed, and they were able to get the race in. It would be the last time my mother and I will ever get to sit in the stands together and cheer on our favorites. Looking back, I think a higher power must have known this was our last hurrah, and allowed that tornado to miss the track.
Mom was a huge fan of Kenny Schrader, Tony Stewart, Roger Long, Jerry Roedell and Don Bohlander. Racing was her favorite sport, but her family was her passion and her life.
Now, at the all too young age of 56, my mom has moved on to cheering on all her favorites in Heaven. The loss of my mother is the most devastating thing I have ever gone through, and is even tougher with 12, 11, 3, and 2 year-olds around who loved their grandma with all their hearts. It is gut-wrenching to explain to a 3 year old that he will never see his Grandma Kathy again.
We have a huge void in all of our lives now. Holidays will never be the same without my mom. She loved getting the family together and cooking up a storm. It was all about spending time with her loved ones.
Everyone reading this should hug their kids harder, and don’t hold back feelings of love for all your friends and relatives. As I learned this week, things can change in an instance.
Life is truly too short.
