Lara’s Blog

Excerpt from El Paso Times Friday, April 24, 2009:
“The stage is set, the plaques are ready to be handed out, and the program is ready for the Price’s Give ‘Em Five El Paso Athletic Hall of Fame banquet and Induction Ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Tomas Rivera Center on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso.
The ceremony will honor the cream of the crop of the top athletes in the city and this year is no different for the Class of 2009.
In the living athlete category, Lara Jackson, an outstanding swimmer in high school at Chapin High School who has gone on to set several NCAA swimming records at the University of Arizona, will be one of the youngest athletes ever inducted.”
“Price’s Give ‘Em Five is a perfect backdrop for the night as the Hall honors five different levels of athletes both on and off the field.
It provides a heartfelt way to recognize another special class of inductees who will have their plaques hang proudly at the Don Haskins Center.”
Lara will be flying in for the induction Wednesday afternoon.  Keith’s Aunt Toni and Uncle Bob are coming in from east Texas for the event.   And Keith’s parents, Rosalie and Richard Jackson will fly in from California to support their granddaughter.  The evening will be bittersweet without Keith there.  He always said that he was Lara’s biggest fan.  Keith will be on all of our minds that evening as Lara continues to make him, and all of us, very proud.
Postscript: Carly Rose Jackson, Lara’s sister, will be cheering from Boston on this momentous night!

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We are mourning the death of Keith Jackson on April 9, 2009, while riding his motorcycle in El Paso, Texas. We had a couple of tough days with the Visitation on Wednesday and the Memorial Service on Thursday attended by over 300 people. We have so much love and devotion in El Paso, that in the days ahead I have so many people that told me to call on them whenever needed. I continue to be in shock and expect Keith to walk in the door any time now. We had 34 great years of being together including our 30 years of marriage. A lesson learned with all of this. Do not wait to do ANYTHING no matter how small or great. The house a wreck? Invite those friends over anyway. A little short on cash, go visit your friends cross country. Keith and I were blessed to visit old friends and family these past couple of months to watch Lara swim in meets in Federal Way, Washington and College Station, TX. His parents and niece managed to make it to Federal Way to meet up with us as well. In College Station we saw several friends we had not seen in a couple of years plus a couple of aunts and uncles. And the four of us, Keith, Carly, Lara and myself were all together for the first time in one year. What a blessing! Life is too short not to live to the fullest! And live life with no regrets. If today were your last day on earth, would you be satisfied?
My love to you all, Tina Jackson

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Aw, the annual end of the year banquets!  We look forward to them, then again, sometimes we dread them.  The Arizona Swimming and Diving Team has an end of the year banquet in the spring, after the mens and womens teams return from NCAA’s.  Keith and I have not attended in the past, but since this was Lara’s senior year, we went ahead and planned to attend the banquet, Sunday, April 5th at 5:00 PM.  It’s the first time we have seen both teams together, probably along with a few parents, since the Texas Invitational last December.  And doesn’t everyone look nice!  The women get all dolled up with nice hair styles and party dresses.  The guys wear suit and tie.  I even wore make up!  We found a table with some male freshman’s parents.  He did not choose to sit with his parents, but Lara was nice enough to sit with her parents.  We enjoyed some nice light dinner conversation along with our roast beef dinners.  And there was lemon meringue pie and coffee for desert.
Then the festivities began.  Head Coah Frank began by thanking all who contribute to the team.  This can include quite a long list of people, but he is always gracious to thank the parents for all that we do.  Then the swimmers get their All-American certificates.  And we finish with the senior awards and each senior says a few words.  By this time, each of the swimmers has had an opportunity to speak on several occassions prior, so they did keep their words short.  The best senior comments were made by Jessica Embick, otherwise known as “Jembeck” or “Jemmy”.  She is a quiet person, but when she speaks, some deep thoughts come out.  She is a member of the team that keeps a close eye on making sure things are done right.  Her specialty is the breaststroke and she was heartbroken when she did not make an NCAA cut for her senior year, despite making it to NC’s the past three years, as well as scoring.  But she did get to go to NC’s and cheer the team on.  She even helped Lara “deck change” into her competition suit, but you’ll need to check out Carly’s blog when she writes about the deck change routine.  With her quiet demeanor, she thanked everyone for the experience of being on this team.  It was difficult to not get to swim at NC’s this year.  But all of the girls will always be her sisters and will never be forgotten.  She praised the captains, then coyly added that she did not vote for Taylor for captain!  And Lara is the coolest girl on the team.
Then Lara got up to a wonderful introduction by Frank.  The walk-on, the swimmer who rides her horse on the weekend, the swimmer who broke her American record in the 50 yard free three times this year.  Lara sweetly thanked her parents, even though she said she had already done her thank you’s.  And she defintely wanted to thank Marshi Smith who was sitting in the crowd.  Marshi was a senior when Lara came on board her freshman year.  Marshi was Lara’s “big sister”, “cubby buddy” and mentor.  Marshi has a brother on the Arizona team, so that was the reason for her being there.  And how special for Lara that she was able to thank her at this banquet.  Oh, and Lara let out Marshi’s secret weapon when she goes out to the blocks to compete.  Marshi would come out thinking like a guy, ready to crush her competitors!   That’s why Marshi was a National champion in the 100 back!
Finally, the banquet was done, time for a few quick pictures, including one more of the senior girls and we were off.  Back to Lara’s house, change clothes, grab our dog, Mia and drive back to El Paso so we could be back at work Monday morning.  Aw, got to love these banquets!

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A quote from the recent Guideposts dated April 2009: “What’s the best advice Guideposts Associate Online Editor Megan Cherkezian received from her grandma?  That everything happens for a reason.  It helps me realize that not everything is in my control and it assures me that even hard times lead to something greater.”
Lara, you’ve had some tough challenges lately and hopefully this quote can give you some comfort knowing that your future looms very bright.

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We’ve all seen press conferences on television.  When the news is something positive, they can be very exciting.  Well, Keith and I got to participate in a press conference on Lara’s behalf when the El Paso Sports Hall of Fame announced it’s 2009 inductees.  I left work a little early to drive to Keith’s work and pick him up.  I also needed to change into my Arizona red polo shirt (with the stars on the back) and my proud Lara Jackson parent nametag.  Keith was dressed the same, except he had a sports jacket and I had a red lightweight blazer.  We arrived at the Larry Durham Center at UTEP and took the elevator up to the Hall of Champions where the press conference was set up.  We got to meet Kevin Lovell of KVIA and worked out how to speak with Lara on the cell phone via speaker so that the microphone would pick up her end of the interview.  And the other inductees also came up to us and introduced themselves.  They were each very gracious in praising Lara’s talent and the bum deal she got at the Olympic Trials.  I was very pleased to shake hands with Steve Haskins, son of the legendary Don Haskins, coach of the UTEP Minors in men’s basketball and the subject of a film, “Glory Road”, in which Josh Lucus (very cute!) portrayed the Bear.  Steve is a professional golfer and is being inducted as one of three athletes.  Then we got to chat with a local celebrity, Paul (the Streltz) Strelzin.  He’s from Brooklyn, you know.  And he says, “Who loves you baby!” in his very strong New York accent which has not faded with time.  He told me he has family in Dix Hills.   So we’re practically neightbors!   He’s being honored in the supporter of athletic groups category.  Does that make him an athletic supportor?  He’s fun and I’ll look forward to the banquet and induction where I’m sure he’ll be a hoot!
Then the festivities started and Lara was the first one introduced.  She was back in Tucson but was able to connect with us via cell phone.  I made sure that she would be available ahead of time and Keith sent her a text that he would be calling and to be sure to pick up the call!  Lara had received the most votes during the selection process.  We all felt very honored by this recognition.  The other two athletes mentioned how nice it was that they were selected, despite being nominated previously.  This was our first shot at it, and what a surprise to be selected on the first go-around!  El Paso sure stands behind their local athletes who are recognized at the national level and last summer’s Olympic Trials 50 free finals made Lara a local hero in her hometown.  She is frequently asked if she will try for the 2012 Olympics in London.  Why wouldn’t she?  She has just started in her swim career and needs to test the waters (sorry, couldn’t resist!) to see where it takes her.
So we’ll be looking forward to Wednesday, April 29 for the El Paso Sports Hall of Fame Induction and Banquet.  Lara will fly in for the fun.  And the Hall of Fame just launched a new website.  Ron Leiman is the web page coordinator and can be contacted at ronleiman@yahoo.com
And the web page can be located by typing the following into your web browser:  http://elpasoathletichalloffame.com
The debut of the page just started on March 25, 2009.  Ron hopes to have the complete web page up by the end of October 2009.  All comments and concerns are welcome.
After the press conference, Keith and I chatted a bit with John Erfort, sports editor with the El Paso Times.  He has interviewed Lara on a couple of occasions, including four years ago when she was a high school senior, preparing to start her freshman year at University of Arizona.  At the end of that interview, John quoted Lara saying, “The best is yet to come!”

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