AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM ERIN BUENGER

08/31/06

AN IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM ERIN BUENGER: "I DON'T HAVE BRAIN CANCER!"

Apparently, in the rush of getting this photo to press at The Eagle, Dave McDermand (who took the picture) interpreted the "neuro" part of neuroblastoma to mean brain-related, so that's the way the tag line ran. Anyway, you Erin fans and prayer-warriors do not need to add another worry bead to the chain. Erin does not now, nor has she ever had brain cancer.

Besides getting to ditch school with her best buddies and being honored by a really great group of local officials (who treated us all like visiting dignitaries), Erin's trip to Commissioners Court on Tuesday netted her a couple of other plums. We have been invited as guests on Doug Vance's radio show, "A Family Affair," on KEOS (89.1) on Friday, September 15 from 6-7 (p.m., I hope). There may also be a possibility of a little coverage on the health segment on KBTX. I'll let you know.

Now, on to other matters. What would you think if you walked into your kitchen from outside at 5:15 in the afternoon to find your nine year old chatting away animatedly on the telephone?

a. School mate checking on homework?
b. Bored telemarketer?
c. Call from grandma?
d. Your Congressman, who is in the midst of one of the toughest races in his life?

If you guessed "d," you would be correct. Chet Edwards had called Erin because he had heard about the commissioners court thing while he was at the Eagle Editorial Board meeting. He wanted to tell her that she was his inspiration. He had cut out her picture from the newspaper and was carrying it with him to remind him that his hardest day in Congress or on the campaign trail was not as hard as many of the days Erin had been through. It just floored me to hear her chatting away with this busy, busy man (he was on the phone at least fifteen minutes and called back at one point when his cell phone dropped the call)!

[Does this story make you want a Chet Edwards yard sign? Just let me know. I am an endless source of very fashionable and decorative (the red and white sets off both the greens of watered lawns and the golden hues of naturalized lawns) Chet Edwards/Congressman lawn signs and bumper stickers.]

This whole exchange hardly affected Erin. She handed off the phone to me and headed out the back door with her friend Aaron and her dog Willie. Their plan: to explore the wilds behind the dam. If only life were always so simple.

Those of you waiting for a Davey B. update may have to be satisfied with a more bare-bones story. He reports he is registered for classes (English, freshman seminar in Thomas Jefferson, Organic Chemistry, Honors Calculus III, Introduction to Game Theory, and PE) and having fun. Ask yourself, could both of those statements possibly be true?