Here, on the verge of another collegiate football season, Arkansans got a poignant reminder that people and how we all treat one another matter far more than final scores, recruitment, tailgating and rabid fandom.
Arkansas State University's head football coach, Blake Anderson, sent a Tweet early Tuesday to all who have been pulling for his wife, Wendy, during her two-year battle with cancer. The first three words of his message -- "Final Wendy update" -- signaled what Red Wolf nation and everyone else had hoped not to hear.
What’s the point?
In battling cancer, Wendy Anderson and her husband, Arkansas State football Coach Blake Anderson, became strong examples of faith and love.
"My beautiful girl has gone home to be with Jesus," Anderson wrote. "No more pain, no more suffering, and praise Him no more cancer. She passed as peacefully and gracefully as you could ever hope just a few minutes before midnight with me laying right beside her. I have been so blessed to have her by my side each day for the past 27 years. Thank you so much to all who have walked, prayed, cried, and loved her through this brutal 2-year battle ... Praise Him that she hurts no more, and is in His presence now and forever."
The note finished with three red hearts.
As with the entire cancer journey the Anderson family has traveled together, the message blended heartbreak, hope and hallelujahs.
Wendy Anderson had been told several times before that the end was near, but her fight continued. She battled the disease in 2017, after surgery celebrating her diagnosis as "cancer free." Then, last fall, came the terrible news: The cancer is back, and in a far more serious way.
Anderson continued to coach, but those around him also prepared for his absence as needed as he cared for his wife. "Coach A shouldn't worry about us right now," Junior quarterback Logan Bonner said this week on the news Anderson was taking a leave of absence. "It's the last thing he should be worrying about. We're praying for him every day."
Retweeting Anderson's message Tuesday, Arkansas football Coach Chad Morris expressed condolences. "Thank you for being an example of light in a moment of darkness," Morris wrote.
Thoughts and prayers have gotten a bad rap lately, arising from frustration about a lack of progress on political issues. On a personal level, knowing that compassionate people hold those in need in their thoughts does help. On a spiritual level, people of faith yearn for the intercessory prayers of fellow believers, for they know there is power there.
The Andersons have delivered a strong message of faith and love in the midst of the most difficult of times. No family existing in the public eye have endured such challenges with more grace.
In the weeks and months ahead, a coach, a player, a commentator or a fan will lose all perspective and risk looking like a dunderhead by treating athletic competition as though it's the most important thing on the planet. Maybe we've all been there. Sports inspires passion, as it should. But listen to people on sports talk radio or peruse sports-related posts on social media and you'll witness how out of hand some folks allow their fandom to get.
The Andersons tried to find that balance, working hard for Arkansas State's athletic program but recognizing football isn't everything.
It's a lesson for all who get a little too wrapped up in what's happening between the end zones.
Some may suggest it's too soon for anyone to write about the heartbreaking loss of Wendy Anderson. We were advised many years ago that it's never too soon or too late to earnestly express sympathies, to offer deserved congratulations or to express appreciation. Our condolences go to the Anderson family and those whose lives they have touched.
We did not personally know Wendy Anderson, but we admire the way she and her husband balanced the difficult challenges of a life-threatening illness against the very public nature of Coach Anderson's profession. Privacy is no doubt cherished in such deeply personal moments, but they nonetheless allowed others to glimpse the sustaining nature of their hope as they prepared for whatever would come.
Commentary on 08/21/2019