This week I’m going to write about the highlight of my year so far. We got to Ellensburg the other day to the WestStar Ranch where Scott and Jo Repp literally give us a second home while we are in the Northwest. They can’t imagine how much my family and many others appreciate all they do for us. 

The day we got there I was talking to Scott and he was telling me a devastating, yet very inspirational story all at once. He was telling me about a family from Mallot, Wash., that had just lost everything they had in the fire that had recently happened up there. I think that is one of the most heartbreaking things someone can go through. He said their son was entered in the ProAm and that he had gotten a call from the kids mother which he thought was going to be letting him know that they weren’t going to be able to come. He was wrong! She told him how much getting to go meant to her son so not only were they coming, they were going to pay the extra money it takes to pick instead of draw your pro! 

I said, “Man how cool is that?” They are in a situation that not everyone can handle and are still coming even though something like that just happened. 

He said, “Yes it is great and the reason they are doing it is because he wants to rope with you.”

Jokingly, I said, “What??! I don’t want that much pressure put on me!” 

It meant the world to me that I was the guy that he wanted on his team. The night before the roping during the Calcutta they gave Wade a check that Old Mill Country Store in Ellensburg had sponsored to pay his entry fee, which I thought was great.

Wade and I ended up winning the ProAm, and his first team roping saddle ever. I have never personally seen someone as happy as he was when he realized we had won it! When we went back in the arena to get his saddle I got to meet his mom and dad and they were as nice as someone can be. As if it hadn’t already, it really sunk in to me that this was one of the most memorable wins I’ll ever get to be a part of and put it in perspective for me even more what it’s all about. 

We all get caught up in the ups and downs but if you really think about it you can make it what you want to and Wade and his family proved that to an extreme. If everything I had was burned to the ground, there’s no telling what I would do. What they did was think of what makes them the happiest and made it happen! If you’re truly happy that’s really all you need. Wins and prizes and everything else is all just stuff at the end of the day. But getting to do something like I got to with Wade is a memory that I will never forget as well as a good lesson learned. I owe them a big thank you for the chance to rope with him! Always remember whenever you get down it could be worse and if you do what makes you happy you will lift back up! 

Thanks for reading and good luck!