Breaking Shackles

WHAT HAS THIS YEAR BEEN LIKE FOR YOU AS A REPORTER AT GAMES WITHOUT MANY FANS IN THE STANDS, IF ANY AT ALL?

It’s definitely a different deal. I will say on the front end of it, as I’m driving to the stadium, it is nice to be able to get into the gates and not have to deal with traffic, but obviously the atmosphere is so different. I’m used to driving in, seeing the fans tailgating, the tents all popped up, everyone grilling out. And now, with fans spreading out, the capacity of fans being around 20 to 25 percent, and not having the fans sort of right there on top of you with the energy is definitely different. When you don’t have the 80,000 to 100,000 screaming fans, it definitely makes for a different environment.

BEFORE FOOTBALL SEASON, THIS YEAR WAS A BIG DEAL. YOU GOT MARRIED IN MAY AND YOU GOT BAPTIZED A COUPLE MONTHS BEFORE THAT IN MARCH. WHAT WAS THE REASON YOU DECIDED TO GET BAPTIZED AND TAKE THAT STEP OF FAITH?

When I was younger, I was baptized. I think I was probably 10 or 11 at the time. I think when you’re young like that, you don’t quite comprehend it. I grew up in the Church and was very much a go-tobed, pray-to-God [child], my parents always tucking me in until I was 17 years old going to college. It was something so special to me.

But I just felt that in my walk with Christ, my faith has grown so exponentially ever since my husband and I met a few years ago, and really proclaiming that faith. I think sometimes we get caught up in the [idea] of “we don’t talk religion and politics.” Those are the two things that you don’t talk about. But I felt like my faith was almost starting to seep out of me. Not that it hadn’t before because I was always vocal about my faith, but I just felt that I was at a place in my life and at a crossroads where I feel that I can be such a servant to others. And then I can use my story and use my skill set and use all the blessings that God has given me to bless others. And I wanted to proclaim that. And my husband, John, wanted to proclaim that.

We had been talking to our pastor, Pastor Lane, and he told us he believed it was time to take that next step and it was just an amazing feeling to [be baptized] at the church in front of people and really just to have that moment to share, not only with the church, but obviously our followers on social media, and our family. And I hope it’s a strong message to others to have that faith to step out and to proclaim their covenant and their relationship with God, and what they hope to achieve in their life with God being at the center.

Lauren with her husband John

AND THEN YOU GET MARRIED, IN A PANDEMIC. I’M GUESSING THERE HAD TO BE A PIVOT TO CONTINUE TO HAVE THE WEDDING AND CONTINUE TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?

Oh my goodness, yes. Let me tell you. We got baptized at the beginning of March and things shut down a week or two later. We had a wedding shower and that’s where things started to happen. But we didn’t understand the magnitude of it at the time. We thought it just might be a few weeks — OK, no big deal. And then suddenly the mask mandates started happening and then they shut down restaurants and all this stuff started happening, but in my mind I thought, “It’s just the middle of March, we’re not getting married until May, we’ll be fine.”

But then the governor of Virginia had mandated a stay-at-home order until June, and really that was the decision. I prayed about it. “Should we get married? Should we wait?” I was sad, cried; every girl grows up dreaming of that big traditional wedding. We had upwards of 200-plus people that were supposed to be at the wedding. But all of a sudden, all these dreams were crumbling right before our eyes.

It was a pivot for us, though. We knew we were ready to tie the knot and be married. What is so crazy is that we were going to get married at the resort where “Dirty Dancing” was filmed; it’s up in the mountains of Virginia. We ended up getting married in the church where we got baptized.

“I felt like my faith was almost starting to seep out of me. Not that it hadn’t before because I was always vocal about my faith, but I just felt that I was at a place in my life and at a crossroads where I feel that I can be such a servant to others.”

We always have a Plan A, and then there’s Plan G, as I like to call it — God’s plan — and sometimes you have to just let it be. We had eight people in the chapel, a photographer and a videographer, and that was pretty much it. It was simple and better than I could have ever planned it myself. I felt like I was drawn to the moment, the reason I was there. I look back and I would have not changed it for the world.

YOUR STORY IS EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN BEING BAPTIZED AND MARRIED IN 2020. GOING BACK TO WHEN YOU WERE COMING OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL, YOU END UP AT RUTGERS, CAPTAIN OF THE GYMNASTICS TEAM AND YOUR FRESHMAN YEAR, YOU GO THROUGH A REALLY DIFFICULT TIME. TELL US WHAT HAPPENED.

I’m off to college, I’m 17 about to turn 18 years old, my freshman year. Of course it’s an adjustment, like anything else, but I’m living out my dream in gymnastics. And you always hear parents say they don’t talk to their kids after they leave for college. Well, I was burning up the phone lines. Every single day, I was talking to my parents.

It was my second semester, in March, and I picked up the phone and called my parents like I always did. I was talking to my mom for a few minutes and she always wanted to know how practice was going, how my bar routine was coming along. I talked to my dad for a few minutes and then hung up the phone, said “I love you,” they said “I love you,” and that was it. It was like a normal conversation.

I went to bed that night and woke up to a phone call just after 3 o’clock that morning and it was my dad on the phone, and he told me my mom died. I remember thinking, “How was this possible?” I said, “Dad, what’s wrong?” He really couldn’t give me an explanation in that moment and just said, “Lauren, I need you to get on the next plane you can. I’ll be at the airport to pick you up.”

So of course, I’m frantically packing my bags, trying to get things together. I get on a plane and fly home to Roanoke, Virginia, my hometown. I remember questioning so many things. I want answers. I want to know what’s going on. But ultimately, I wanted to run and jump in my dad’s arms and hear him tell me everything was going to be OK.

When I got to the airport and went outside, and was looking everywhere for my dad — unfortunately, he never did show up at the airport to pick me up. It was my uncle and my cousin who were there and they had to tell me that my dad had also passed away. As you can imagine, hearing that, not only your mom but your dad had died, just within a few hours of each other, and [trying] to process that. And to this day, it’s been 17 years and I can’t believe that I’ve been in this world and lived my life almost as long without them as I did with them.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM?

What’s crazy about the story is that it would actually take us many months to learn, and for me, many years to come to terms or at least accept what happened to both of my parents. My mom had been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, which required multiple surgeries over the course of time. My father had back surgery and one of those permanent TENS units (an electrical nerve stimulator) in his back, and suffered with some depression. He was in the military, had some PTSD and things he dealt with.

Both of my parents had been going to a pain management doctor for about three or four years before their passing, and getting prescription drugs to help them cope with their pain. As a kid in high school, I knew the medication was there, I saw it. But it’s prescribed by a doctor, so it was OK, right? And that was sort of the thought process. They’d wake up every day with a smile on their face, they’d go to work, involved with church, taking me to practice. That’s what I knew their life to be. But I had no idea that they began to abuse those prescription drugs.

Unfortunately, I think both of them ultimately were addicted and they had to manage the pain and the addiction, and it wasn’t something they were very vocal about. I think looking back, they were ashamed of this. There was a lot going on behind the scenes and they did a great job sugar-coating and not letting anyone else in on their personal battle. The words “addiction” and “overdose” I couldn’t use in the same sentence, as I was afraid people would judge me. We found out 90 days after their death that they overdosed on fentanyl.

“KEEP THE FAITH AND ALWAYS KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT LIFE THROWS YOU, YOU CAN GET THROUGH IT. KEEP THE FAITH, AND WEATHER THE STORM. THERE ARE GOING TO BE BRIGHTER DAYS.”

WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO SHARE THIS STORY PUBLICLY?

There was such a powerful release. I call it the shackles of shame. When I shared their story and it became more public, I had my dad’s colleagues reaching out to me on Facebook, saying how thankful after 10 years that I had shared their story, because they could have peace now knowing how they had died. It was almost a sense of relief.

I truly believe a lot of times that the truth will set us free. I think the truth had not only set me free, but so many people that had loved and cared for my parents. Once I started sharing with one person and then two people, and then five people, and then the opportunity to get in front of a group, and now I can stand in an auditorium in front of 500 people, students, student-athletes, businesses, to share my story and encourage others to get up, keep moving and put your faith first.

I think that now more than ever, we have this opportunity to sort of break those shackles of shame, break the stigma and give people a place that they feel safe and not feel judged for what they have gone through. I want to encourage anyone that is listening or reading this to please keep the faith, and always know that no matter what life throws you, you can get through it. Keep the faith, and weather the storm. There are going to be brighter days. You can reach out to me on social media @LaurenSisler if I can help in any way.

PurposeDriven

TRAVIS HUDSON HAS SURVIVED CANCER AND A HEART ATTACK, AND ONCE STEERED A TEAM BUS TO SAFETY WHEN THE DRIVER SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK. THE LEGENDARY WESTERN KENTUCKY VOLLEYBALL COACH KNOWS GOD DIDN’T SPARE HIS LIFE TO WIN GAMES, BUT TO INVEST IN YOUNG STUDENT-ATHLETES.

BY COLE CLAYBOURN

There have just been too many close calls in Travis Hudson’s life for him to deny that Someone is looking over him. First, it was the two surgeries for melanoma that, if caught just a few weeks later, would’ve entered his bloodstream. Then in 2010, he saved his Western Kentucky University women’s volleyball team from a possibly horrific bus crash. The driver suffered a heart attack while driving, so Hudson quickly grabbed the wheel to bring the bus to a stop before it entered oncoming traffic.

In 2018, Hudson suffered the scariest of heart attacks — the widow maker, as it’s called — and nearly lost his own life.

As he embarks on his 26th season at the helm of the Lady Topper volleyball program in what has become a storied career, his response to these and the countless other trials he’s faced, both on and off the court, has remained the same: God has him here for a purpose.