The West University Buzz - August 2025 by The Buzz Magazines

Before the Flood, After the Flood: A View from Higher Ground

Family Book Club

The Buzz about The Beehive

Books That Make the Grade

100 Years of West U Elementary

Father-Son Zoo Road Trips Leaning Into Community Battling Cancer: On and Off the Court

by Cathy Gordon

Scott Disch and dad, Jimmy Disch

EDITOR’S NOTE

The unimaginable tragedy on July 4th hit painfully close for everyone in our communities. Eight-year-old Blakely McCrory, a camper who died in the flood, was our neighbor. We didn’t know the McCrorys well but often saw Blakely playing at the park. Recently, Michael and I ran into her with her aunt Alex. Without thinking, Michael said to Alex, “You must be the Easter Bunny!” as he had spotted Blakely with a giant Easter Bunny a few years earlier. “I knew it!” ever-so-sharp Blakely said, pointing at her aunt. (We all know the real Easter Bunny doesn’t need a costume.) It was a small, funny moment, the kind you have with neighbors. Since the flood, it’s been moving to see neighbors come together in grief, to see green ribbons on trees and doors, to see the ways in which community members are honoring those whose lives were lost, and comforting devastated family members and friends. We hope this issue helps you find some healing and connectedness with neighbors. joni@thebuzzmagazines.com

THE BUZZ MAGAZINES

BELLAIRE • WEST UNIVERSITY • MEMORIAL • TANGLEWOOD/RIVER OAKS

Published by Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401 info@thebuzzmagazines.com • p:

Editor-in-Chief

Joni Hoffman

Publisher Michael Hoffman

Editor Jordan Magaziner Steinfeld

Associate Editor Caroline Siegfried

Design Manager John Duboise

Staff Writers Tracy L. Barnett

Sharon Albert Brier

Cindy Burnett

Andria Dilling

Angie Frederickson

Todd Freed

Cindy Gabriel

Cathy Gordon

Michelle Casas Groogan

Dai Huynh

Annie Blaylock McQueen

Jennifer Oakley

Ben Portnoy, Cheryl Ursin

Accounting & Contract Administrator

Meena Dost

Account Managers Andrea Blitzer, Leslie Little

Jo Rogers

Interns Rebecca Bloome, Alden Farrow, Prisha Shivani

On our cover: West U Elementary parents, alumni, and teachers will celebrate the school’s centennial this year. Pictured are principal Scott Disch with dad, Jimmy. Cover photo by Michael Hart, hartphoto.com

The Buzz Magazines has made all reasonable attempts to verify the accuracy of all information contained within. Advertising claims are solely the responsibility of the advertiser. Copyright © 2025 Hoffman Marketing & Media, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this magazine by any means without written permission is strictly prohibited. Printed on recycled paper. Please remember to recycle.

Your letters, thoughts, opinions

Celebrating Class of 2025

Being featured on the June cover of Memorial Buzz [Class of 2025: Where are they headed? by Caroline Siegfried] was such a fun and memorable way to wrap up my senior year. It truly felt like a full-circle moment.

What made it even more special was the acknowledgment from so many different corners of my life. For example, some little girls I babysit jokingly started calling me a “celebrity” after spotting me on the cover and I even heard from relatives in other cities who somehow got their hands on the magazine or heard about it through the grapevine. It reminded me how powerful community really is, and how sweet it is to be celebrated by people near and far.

Thank you so much for the opportunity. It was an experience I’ll always remember.

Carolina Factor

Editor’s note: Congratulations, Carolina, and the entire Class of ’25! We wish you all the best as you head off to campuses around the country this month. See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com to find out where our neighbors are heading.

Reliving remarkable memories

Wow! It is tremendous! Thank you, Tracy [Antarctica Adventure: A Mother-Daughter Journey to the End of the World by Tracy L. Barnett, July 2025]! And because of your way with words, I’m getting goosebumps because of the amazing memories made with my daughter. And, of course, Mr. Bill.

Debbie Paseur

Editor’s note: Debbie, thanks to you and your daughter for sharing your Antarctica adventures with Buzz readers. It’s incredible that this trip marked the last two of the seven continents that the two of you – and SNL figurine Mr. Bill –have traveled together.

Magic matters

This heartwarming reflection of the tooth fairy [in The Power of Fairy Tales: They aren’t just for children by Cindy Gabriel, April 2025] blends the wonder of childhood with the wisdom of age. Cindy, as always, tells phenomenal stories rich with truth and transformation. This specific story teaches us that magic still matters. The wonderful fairytales of our youth may not change but they might change our perceptions. Thank you to The Buzz Magazines for featuring such great articles!

Linda Hudson

Tale as old as time

[Regarding The Power of Fairy Tales] So very relatable! I just experienced my 6-year-old grandson losing his first tooth. Cindy Gabriel hit the nail on the head! Ancient fairy tales can be scary but the morals behind them should still be told today.

Joyce Johnson

Work Like a Dog

A canine contemplation

In the heat of our Houston summer, it is a wonder to me that August 5 is designated as “Work Like a Dog Day,” according to nationaldaycalendar.com. I think that we would all prefer to work like a dog in December or January, but I did not pick the day for this important celebration. Actually, I’m not so sure anyone wants to really work like a dog anyhow.

“Work like a dog” means, of course, work very hard for a long time. There is no clear history of how this saying started, but it is assumed that it refers to those canines that work as sled dogs, sheep herders, or rodent control creatures. You might want to add to the list those dogs that help people with poor or no sight and the sniffer dogs that find drugs or bodies. Somehow, service dogs do not seem to me to “work like a dog” even though they clearly must work like a dog. What choice do they have?

I have had three dogs over the years. The first one, Doodles, was a Beagle hound, and she is long gone now. My wife bought her at a pet store in Baltimore where we were living at the time. My wife was proud that she got a $10 discount as our friend Mary Jo bought the sister in the litter. Over the dog’s lifetime, I was a keen observer of Doodles, and I assure you that this hound never worked like a dog. She did learn to roll over, shake hands, sit, and lie down, so I suppose that’s something. Still, I can’t call it work.

After Doodles passed, we adopted a Jack Russell Terrier puppy. My wife would not let me get another Beagle. She was tired of Doodles’ inclination to chew up anything and behave a bit crazy from time to time. I researched the options to find an alternate crazy dog, and I got the feeling that a Jack Russell would be crazy, too. We went to a breeder’s kennel in Dickinson, and my oldest daughter (age 12 at the time) picked out the scrawniest puppy of the litter. Its ribs stuck out, so she named it “Bones,” but that didn’t last long. The dog lived its long life as “Bonzo.” Yes, it was a crazy dog, and it thrived in our lively house of three daughters. I do not ever recall Bonzo doing any work, but come to think of it, there was one time.

We had a hamster named Rascal. It was an escape artist. Finally, it escaped, and we could

not find it. I gave up figuring that Rascal would turn up eventually. One day, my wife was on the phone and Bonzo appeared and dropped a deceased and desiccated Rascal at her feet. I suppose that qualifies for work.

After Bonzo died at a ripe old age, there was a hiatus. Only my youngest daughter, Tammy, remained at home, and she and I wanted another dog. My wife was not so sure, but she relented after a year or so. My daughter and I went to the SPCA and found a cute puppy that looked like a little raccoon. Nikki was our last dog, and she was special. As Nikki grew, the raccoon look went away. She became a stately furry mid-sized dog. She was a mix between an Australian Shepherd and Australian Cattle Dog. She was very bright. If any dog was going to work like a dog, Nikki was the one.

But did Nikki work? Not really. Occasionally

when there were a few kids on the street, she would try to herd them. Our neighbors had a chicken, and Nikki would lie down in front of the chicken and commune with the bird in some unknown way. Of course, none of that constitutes work. The chicken, on the other hand, laid an egg every day, and that was clearly work.

So, on August 5, I think I will observe Work Like a Dog Day somehow as a kind of memorial to Doodles, Bonzo, and Nikki. To be honest with you, that day is also my wife’s birthday. Maybe, before we go out to some horribly expensive restaurant to celebrate her birthday, I will chew on a Milk-Bone to acknowledge the canine holiday. Of course, I haven’t mentioned it, but August 5 is also National Underwear Day and National Oyster Day.

What to do? It’s a dog’s life.

PAWS FOR A REST Many years ago, the writer’s daughter Tammy watches TV with Bonzo.

by Cindy Gabriel, staff writer

Before the Flood, After the Flood

A view from higher ground

When you read this, the funerals and vigils will have come and gone. As I write this, July 4, 2025 is still less than a week ago. You will have moved past shock into grief. I’m still in shock. I only know one story at the moment. Mine.

Yes, we were there. No, the house didn’t flood, but it was close to the devastation, just higher, much higher. They don’t call it the Hill Country for nothing.

The best part of going to Hunt is arriving. On July 3rd, like so many before, our 4.5-hour drive ends with a stop at the Ole Ingram Grocery store, run by John Sheffield. He lights up when he sees us. It’s part of the experience. He knows our arrival ritual: fresh chicken, no preservatives, cut for the grill. Oh, and deer corn. The 50-pound bags sit just outside the front door. They have a hand scanner now. No more cans with price stickers. Tomorrow, the sign says, homemade pies will arrive for the July 4th celebrations.

The real beauty, the final drive, begins. Highway 39 from Ingram to Hunt. Nothing between you and the river. On the left, the dam, lined with lawn chairs and coolers as people sit and talk. The Cypress and the Oaks bend toward the water in homage. The road gently follows the flow. The old stone houses on the right. The catwalk across the road. Our turn is coming up, just before the bridge to the Hunt Store. I remember the words up, up, up on the first written directions from my father the first time I visited the house in Hunt, before GPS.

The deer greet us like pets when we pull into the driveway. They prance, leap, and hiss in the field, knowing a large bucket of corn is about to be poured. I pour the corn, while Stan preps the chicken for the grill. I pour the wine and count deer as they arrive. Twenty is a typical night. Some White-tailed, some Axis. The bucks watch from a distance. Our Lab Mix Zoe lounges on the deck, looking back and forth, between the chicken and the deer. The field looks different every time we come, different blooms, different birds, different sounds, and yet, all familiar.

We went to bed with a 50 percent chance of rain, according to Stan. That seemed good. Rain is always welcome in Hunt. I love the sound on our metal

roof. But this night was intense, relentless, and yes, disturbing. We wake up the next day to no power. No TV. No internet. First crisis, no coffee! I’m more evolved now. But that was my mindset. Things were so bad that we had to resort to actually talking to our neighbors. Some of the larger truck owners were heading down, down, down to check out the town. I needed to know if the Hunt Store had power. If they did, they would have coffee.

We could at least text with our neighbors, and I could text my daughter Julia Weber, who was an hour away on the Frio River in Leakey. She had internet. The trickle of information begins.

The Hunt Store is a shell. The Post Office is gone. Still unevolved, I wondered what pot I should use to boil water on our propane grill for coffee. Uh oh, no water. The water company offices had been destroyed.

My ears could not quite receive what followed: Some 27 girls were missing from Camp Mystic. The message had a strange way of changing. Oh, they’ve been found. First they were on some island along the river. Then they were somehow all at Walmart in Kerrville. Some were actually found in trees. But that changed to everyone’s alive, just in trees. The truth had no receivers. The ground beneath us was yet to shift.

By 2 p.m. the road was cleared, and water had receded enough to leave. I won’t take the time to describe everything you’ve already seen on the news.

In Houston, my heart was in Hunt. We learned our power and even water was back on. Amazing. My eyes were glued to my phone. Finally, Julia produced a list of the girls unaccounted for, directly from the camp. I recognized some last names, but no first names. One last name, McCrory, hmmmm. Aimee and Don McCrory are Stan’s sister and brother-in-law but, naaaah.

Then the call. I hoped Aimee was just checking on us, but no. Turns out she didn’t just know 8-yearold Blakely McCrory. Blakely was her little fish, who swam at their pool over the years. Her father Blake, while 15 years younger, was Don McCrory's cousin. And her mom, Lindsey, practically grew up in their home as their daughter Erica’s best friend.

Erica, now Erica Cozewith, has lived in Atlanta since 1998. Turns out she was in Houston, visiting her family while Lindsey was at a family event in Croatia with her sister, Alex McLeod Blazevich, along with other family members. The festivities took place on a boat, and guests had sparse cell phone reception. When they docked, she saw a series of frantic emails and calls from Camp Mystic. Lindsey’s 8-year-old daughter,

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HOPING FOR SUNNIER DAYS A rainbow spreads over Hunt, Texas.

(continued from page 12)

Blakely, was among the missing. Just last March, Lindsey’s husband, Blake McCrory, had died after a cancer diagnosis. Then, in June, Lindsey’s brother, Chanse McLeod, passed away. Surely this isn’t happening.

She had no idea Erica was in Houston when she texted her best friend with the scary news. Lindsey flew home with her sister Joanie and her niece. Joanie also had a daughter at Camp Mystic who had survived and was picked up by her father. Erica would be there to pick Lindsey up from the airport in Houston to head directly to the Hill Country. Lindsey was sure Blakely, the fish, was alive, but traumatized by whatever had happened. She needed to get there as quickly as possible.

Back when I was growing up, we used the term Act of God to describe weather events like the one that hit Kerrville. We have lost the mysterious and poetic ways of using the “G” word, afraid it might offend. I’m finding it pretty useful right now.

I feel that the confluence of events that brought Lindsey and Erica together at this time was an Act of God. Erica was in Houston for Don’s birthday, but her primary motive was to visit someone else, someone special in her life with cancer. Erica is Jewish. Lindsey is Christian. Best friends don’t have to be identical. These two play off their differences with inside jokes that are safe within their relationship. It’s a wonder to observe. This is a G-d/God story (it’s how the two different religions spell the same word). Erica has no doubt that G-d arranged for her to be in Houston to be there for Lindsey. I had no doubt that G-d/God had tricked me out of Hunt by threatening me with no coffee, then quickly bringing the power back so that Lindsey and Erica could stay at my house. Erica was asking all the key questions, such as address, blow-dryer, WiFi password, got it. They were arriving late at night. My Hunt neighbor, Gretchen Harris, got the house ready, turned on the lights, and made the entrance easy. I felt pleased, if not smug, that I was being G-d/God’s personal assistant. (I’m still evolving.)

As it turns out, our house was actually too close to the action. The road in front of my house was blocked. Lindsey was offered a house in Ingram where they ended up staying. I had to call my old college buddy Clover Bailey, a retired Presbyterian minister, my spiritual soundboard – like me, but on steroids. I had a lot to unload. I wanted them to come to my house, not someone else’s. It had become about me. Here’s what Clover asked: Do you need to help someone? Or does someone need your help?

I did not know Lindsey or Blakely. I was one step into the periphery. This was not my direct loss, but I felt so deeply for the McCrorys and McLeods. Knowing how to help is tricky. Clover then said this: “Every church cookbook should have a warning under the lasagna recipe: Grieving families don’t need six lasagnas.”

Then came a text from Erica. I have a huge favor to ask. Could you talk to Lindsey and write a draft of the obituary, due tomorrow? Oh, so Gd/God wanted me to put this Buzz column aside, to offer my time and skill on a deadline. Offering a house, without me, was easier. Apparently Gd/God wanted my skin in the game.

I often trend toward humor when something devastating happens. Lots of people think that’s weird, I know. But Lindsey gets it. On the phone, Lindsey sounded so composed. Erica was with her. Lindsey wanted a double obituary, for Blakely as well as her husband, Blake. It’s impossible to fathom, but Lindsey lost her husband, brother, and daughter weeks apart. And now she is expected to walk, talk, dress, breathe, plan a funeral, make decisions, write a double, almost triple, obituary and hear how sorry everybody is nine thousand times? Lindsey had already turned down an interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN and here she was talking to me. So was there any network she was willing to talk to? She replied, the one that will do my hair and make-up. If we didn’t have trauma, we wouldn’t have comedians. I immediately knew I was talking to a woman with a sense of humor who was ready to use it.

Everyone seems to be connected to one or

more of the grieving families in some way. The Buzz Magazines editor Joni Hoffman is Lindsey’s neighbor. Joni, who is Jewish, always gives Matzoh Ball soup in a crisis.

We had to laugh at her question to me, Do Christians eat Matzoh Ball soup? This led to a long discussion between Joni, Erica, and me. Soup, yes? Soup, no? On the porch? Ring the doorbell? We decided no. Even Kerrville was putting out the word to please stop sending food. But then a text came from Erica: Lindsey says Matzoh Ball soup actually sounds really good

On the phone, Lindsey seemed so ready to laugh, I mentioned Clover’s line – that grieving families don’t need six lasagnas. Lindsey roared. She called Blakely her little livewire as if she was right down the road. She said Blakely had had three favorite people and Lindsey was third. Having just lost her father, you can guess who was first. We all grieve differently. This was the end of a day of decisions no parent should be asked to make. We said good night. Then I opened my laptop and wrote the obituary through tears. Tears for Lindsey, Blakely’s 20-year-old halfbrother Brady (who she affectionately called "Bro Bro"), the McCrory family, the McLeod family, tears for the families of all the missing people, tears for Hunt and the whole Kerrville region. Tears for Texas. Lindsey thanked me for the obituary. I told her to consider it in lieu of lasagna. When everything you know is gone, it is good to see that laughter is left. Another thing that is left, I am happy to report, is The Ole Ingram Store along with John Sheffield’s family. They even had the promised homemade pies on the 4th.

I’ve had more warm, real conversations in less than a week than the whole year. The least I can do is love more, laugh and cry more, and talk to my neighbors. Where is G-d/God in all of this? In the details.

Editor’s note: See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for a link to Blakely’s obituary. Also, find a list of ways Buzz neighbors can help those impacted by the flood.

DADDY’S GIRL From taking in an Astros game to swimming at cousin Don and Aimee McCrory’s pool, Blakely and Blake McCrory enjoyed quality time together. Right photo: Blakely is pictured at age 3, working on her swim skills. Blake passed away in March; Blakely was among the campers from Camp Mystic whose lives were tragically cut short in the July 4th flood.

Aimee McCrory Photography

by Andria Dilling, staff writer

Family Book Club

Vacation edition

Every summer for several years, our monthly “Back Porch” column has highlighted some aspect of summer reading. We’ve done beach reads, young adult reads, high school literature classes, reading with fathers, Audible books, co-workers who read together. And there’s more. But this year we are introducing the most creative idea yet: the family vacation book club. (Even though we are nearing the end of summer, there’s still time – always time – for a family read, whether that’s at home or while sneaking in one last getaway before school starts).

Leave it to Melanie and Chris Promecene to come up with something so original. Melanie, an interior designer by trade who is now an author and poet, and Chris, owner of Promecene Design and a master at graphics and branding, were set to cruise to the Caribbean this summer in celebration of Chris’ 60th birthday, along with their 10-year-old son Noah and Chris’ San Antonian brother Will and sister-in-law Angela.

During a pre-cruise conversation about a month before setting sail, the family decided to create a cruise book club. All Melanie could think was, “Oh no, it takes us so long to read, and we only have a month.”

That’s because Melanie is not a born reader. “It wasn’t until I was an adult in design school that I learned my eyes track differently,” Melanie says. “I only read if I had to for school.”

Then along came Noah. “He’s severely dyslexic,” Melanie explains. “He learns differently, and he’s also super intelligent. We want to support that, so I read to him every night for at least an hour. That has become our special time together.” This summer, Noah has been working with teachers at The Joy School to learn how to research and produce papers using special speech-to-text and text-to-speech technology.

At home, he and his mom have whizzed through all the Harry Potter books, and they’re just about through all of the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan. “If I can find a series – any kind of series for young kids – we read the books and then watch the movie. He never watches the movie first. The books capture Noah’s attention so we can go from the next to the next to the next to the next,” Melanie says.

All that reading aloud has resulted in an expansive vocabulary for a 10-year-old. And that, thanks to Melanie and Chris, has led to what Melanie calls “magical storytelling” and a sharp focus on creative thought and imagination. “We were wondering how we can help him start creating his own stories,” which is how the family came to publish three children’s books – The Sea and Shell, Hoot Hoot, and Claire & the Astronaut, all under the publishing name The Family Promecene.

Melanie already had experience publishing: Grit & Magic is a sweet memoir detailing the process she and Chris went through to adopt Noah. She knew about printing, publishing, and distributing a book. And Chris was a natural

“We’re playing to his strengths. He likes to tell stories. Hopefully that translates as a bridge to reading.”

illustrator. “As a graphic designer, I have always had an appreciation for children’s book illustrators,” he says. “When Noah was little, he had this astronaut suit he would wear. He loved astronauts. And that kind of reminded me of a story I’d had in my head forever about an astronaut visiting a school. From there, it just took off.”

“We pitched the idea [of writing children’s books] to Noah as an entrepreneurial lesson,” Melanie says. “What it is to create a business, the costs associated with that, the marketing,

the time. He’s seeing all of it.”

“Everything builds on the last thing,” Chris says. “He’s an entrepreneur in the making. Although how enthusiastic about it he is ebbs and flows.

“Because he learns and retains information through hearing stories, we were trying to channel that natural strength to translate to reading,” Chris says. “It’s not about retaining the information read to him, but it’s getting him to appreciate that reading and writing are more advanced forms of storytelling.”

Melanie chimes in: “We’re playing to his strengths. He likes to tell stories. Hopefully that translates as a bridge to reading.”

Melanie and Chris also view the books as alternatives to screens. “Yes, there are digitals and games, but there are also these things called books,” Chris says.

“We would talk about the stories as a family,” Melanie says. “Noah would say, ‘I think it would be better if this was a squirrel,’ so we’d change it. We did lots of rhyming, and Noah helped with that. He was learning how to tell a story on his own.”

The stories are now books, and the books are available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other online booksellers. “At nine years old, Noah had published three books,” Melanie says. Still, when it came time to join his family’s vacation book club this sum-

(continued on page 18)

READING AND WRITING Melanie, Noah, and Chris Promecene read together nightly and together published a set of three children's books.

(continued from page

mer, Noah was hesitant.

“He said, ‘I’ve never done this,’ but I had never done a book club either,” Melanie says. “So I said this is your first book club and my first book club.”

Angela, Chris’ sister-in-law, chose The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern as the book club book. A fantasy set in the 1800s about an extraordinary nighttime-only circus – plus large doses of mystery, magic, and love – the book was published in 2012 to much acclaim (and bestseller status). It wasn’t something Chris, an avid reader, would have chosen – “He was like, we need a spy novel,” Melanie says – but he loved it.

“It was kind of like a Harry Potter,” Melanie says. “The environment was so vivid. An illusory, sensory experience, which is how we fell in love

with Harry Potter.”

Even with all the enthusiasm from his family, Noah wasn’t convinced. “Not my favorite,” he says of The Night Circus. “I was glad we finally finished it so I could get back to Percy Jackson!”

The family pledged not to discuss the book until they were cruising, at which point they had all finished the novel. Everyone except for Chris resorted to the audio version toward the end, and they loved the British narrator: “He had so many different voices, and all the accents were wonderful,” Melanie says. She adds that not discussing the book until they were sailing created an excitement about the vacation.

Once onboard, the family would discuss the book at dinners and over drinks. Chris – always thinking in graphics – created a book-themed

t-shirt and gave each club member a red handkerchief (in the book, people who loved the circus were distinguishable by the “something red” on their bodies).

“For wanting to keep a low profile for his 60th,” Melanie laughs, “there was a celebration every single night on that boat.”

As for their own books, Melanie and Chris are now helping friends interested in writing, illustrating, and publishing stories. But Melanie points out about the books her family has created, “This is not a money-maker. It’s a creative collaboration.” A collaboration built on learning, imagination, and a lot of love.

Editor’s note: See this story at thebuzzmagazines.com for links to past Back Porch columns on summer reading.

BOOK CLUB CRUISE Counterclockwise, from top right: Noah Promecene is not only learning to love books, he collaborated in writing and publishing three of them by the time he was 10 – Claire & the Astronaut, Hoot Hoot, and The Sea and Shell, all under the publishing name The Family Promecene; Angela and Will Promecene joined Noah, Chris, and Melanie (from left) on a cruise for Chris' 60th birthday, where they created a family book club.

Dylan Aguilar

16)

by Andria Dilling, staff writer

Battling Cancer

On and off the court

In February of 2024, life was normal for Lily Dunlap. That is, it was normal for an exceptionally driven, A-student, basketball playing 16-year-old at St. John’s School. In her own words, Lily was “the oldest daughter, the oldest grandchild, all of the things.”

Still, Lily’s life wasn’t perfect – she had faced more than her share of challenges for a teenager. When she was 4, she was diagnosed with hearing loss that she’d had since birth. With hearing aids and the ability to lip-read, Lily doesn’t think much about her hearing. “It’s just a part of me,” she says. Then in 2018, her mom Colleen Dunlap was diagnosed with breast cancer. Colleen, her husband Mike, and their children Lily, Allison (now 15), and Joshua (now 12) relied on their strong faith and each other as Colleen healed. But nothing could have prepared Lily – or her family – for the diagnosis Lily received in the spring of her sophomore year of high school.

“Lily had had a couple of typical illnesses, strep, a sinus infection, a virus. But they were back-to-back,” Colleen says. “It was very unusual for her. One weekend I took her to urgent care, and they flagged a large lymph node in her neck.

“A month later, it was noted again. Then, on spring break 2024, she was feeling terrible. We went straight to the pediatrician, and he said he wanted us to give things another month so that we could get Lily healthy and see if it was a reactive lymph node that would go away.” That was March 18.

“A month went by, and he ordered imaging. On April 22, we went for ultrasounds, and within an hour, I had a very, very, very concerning radiology report. Not only did Lily have the one very large lymph node, but there were multiple abnormal lymph nodes.”

Immediate biopsies showed something seriously wrong. A few days later, an ear, nose, and throat specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital told the family: This is probably cancer of some kind. In the meantime, there was a basketball tournament in Dallas. “We were hemming and hawing about whether to go to that tournament,” Colleen says. “But the doctor said we could go if Lily was up to it, and we went to keep our rou-

tine, our normalcy. Otherwise we’d be sitting around all weekend stressing about the biopsies.”

On May 15, Lily was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin Lymphoma. Ten days after the Dallas tournament, she had surgery and started chemo.

“When I was finally diagnosed,” Lily says, “I thought I had prepared myself. But there’s no way you can prepare yourself for the news you have cancer. You’re never ready for that.”

For the following few days, Lily says she closed down. “It was pretty crazy,” she says. “I was pretty shook.”

“Initially, we were hysterical,” Colleen says. “You go through the stages of shock and grief. My husband and I were thinking How much more do we as a family need to go through? But the pity party didn’t last very long. We put our heads down and went through.” Again, the Dunlaps relied on their faith and the people surrounding them for support.

“If you look at it all, it feels overwhelming,” Colleen says. “We had to focus on that day, that week, one step at a time. If we thought about the big picture, the what-ifs, it was too much.”

Thankfully, the doctors told Lily – and her parents – that her prognosis was good. “They said it was going to be really hard for a year, it would be a significant blip, but she was going to live to tell her grandchildren about it.’”

The “really hard” part, according to the doctors, would include dropping out of school and church and anything with a crowd for a year.

“I remember sitting there, the oncologist saying Lily was going to have to take a year off. It was like a bomb had gone off in the room. She said the risk of infection was too high, a simple cold would put her in the hospital and lead to transfusions. But within three seconds, Lily just said That’s not gonna work. She wanted to graduate on time, with her friends.” Sitting out was out of the question.

The doctors were not convinced. “They didn’t want to commit to anything, so we decided to revisit the subject after the summer, closer to the start of school,” Colleen says.

“Then it all moved very quickly,” Lily says. “It’s not just you have can-

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STAYING STRONG Lily Dunlap, an incoming senior at St. John’s School, did not let cancer derail her plans to play basketball and graduate with her class.

SUPPORT SYSTEM Years before her daughter Lily was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, Colleen Dunlap had survived breast cancer. That experience helped Colleen support her daughter.

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cer, it’s we’re doing chemo next week, and here we go.” Lily says nothing really sank in until the first chemo treatment. “I started figuring out what I was going to look like,” she says of the thought of losing her hair.

On May 24, Lily – and her family – dove into a routine of 12 rounds of chemotherapy given every two weeks. Things got harder as the cumulative nature of the chemo took effect.

While she was going through a summer of chemotherapy, Lily, her family, and her doctors developed a relationship. “They could see how very important [going to school] was to Lily,” Colleen says. “They also knew that we as a family would take this seriously, too. We told them she would wear a mask every day at school, and if she needed to sit in another spot in the room, we’d do that, too.”

In August, Lily’s hair began to fall out. “It’s another one of those situations,” she says. “You can say you’re going to lose your hair, but you don’t realize how much your hair is part of your identity until you lose it.” Doctors didn’t allow her to shave her head for fear that nicks might cause too much blood loss. “A lot of little things come with cancer that you don’t think about,” Lily says. So she cut her hair short. “It helped so I didn’t have to see long strands coming out,” she says. “There would be hair covering my pillow every morning, on my carpet. My hands would be covered with it in the shower. It was never-ending, always a reminder of cancer.

“I got a wig. I hated my wig. It didn’t feel like me. But neither did being bald. It was a conun-

drum.” Lily decided to wear the wig to school.

With the doctors’ okay, Lily began her junior year at St. John’s with an adapted schedule. She would miss three of every 10 days at school because of treatment and recovery from the treatment. So she took four classes at St. John’s (a normal schedule would be six or seven) and two online classes through Texas Tech.

“It was tricky, because I don’t like online classes, and it was tricky because of chemo,” Lily says. “And it was always like a catch-up game. I’m not someone who procrastinates ever, and typically I work into the night. But I was needing more sleep and had to go to bed at 8:30. I had to be okay with not doing my usual overstudying, but I also had to keep up my grades.

“I was never going to skip school. Was never going to take a year off.”

At the same time, Lily was laser focused on reaching her goal to play basketball with her team, and to not take the season off. She had played since she was five years old, she loved the fast pace, she loved that a team can’t have success with just one player. She wasn’t letting cancer take that away. Even though she couldn’t play, Lily went to all the games. “I was the team cheerleader,” she says.

While she worked to keep up with her class and get back to playing basketball, Lily counted the rounds of chemo. When she finished number six, she told herself she was done with half, she knew she could keep going. But physically the treatments were wearing on her. “I’m a very active person,” Lily says, “always have been. So

it was all stripped from me. Basically, I went from playing basketball all the time and lifting to just a short sunset walk a day. I never would have called a walk a workout, but even that was getting my heart rate up. I couldn’t get it over 180. So I had to cope with the fact that a walk was as good as I could do.”

Lily’s younger siblings Allison and Joshua were extra supportive. “It was unnerving for them,” Colleen says. “She would come home from treatment, and she would be in really bad shape. Everybody knew she needed space and sleep. They’d go in and hug her the next morning, check on her. And we tried to keep everybody’s routines really normal.”

Having completed treatment, Lily got a clear scan a few days before Thanksgiving. “We had a tremendous amount to be thankful for,” Colleen says. The day after Thanksgiving, she had surgery to remove her port. Then she was cleared to return to basketball.

“It was great, but it was hard. The warmup tired me out,” Lily says of rejoining her team in December. “I couldn’t show anyone that I was struggling. But I was struggling.” Her team buoyed her spirits. “We all pretended like I wasn’t less fit than before,” she says.

Her first basketball game was December 10. As fate would have it, Lily played against her sister Allison, who played for St. Francis Episcopal School. “It was super special,” Colleen says. “My husband and I had to be Switzerland, cheering for both teams. But the girls were guarding each other and standing together.

COURAGEOUS Coach Kathy Halligan recognized Lily’s determination and resilience and nominated her for the national Naismith Courage Award; the Dunlaps –Colleen, Mike, Joshua, Lily, and Allison – on the day Lily won the award.

Dylan Aguilar

Jack Chavez

“God was watching out for us. This was her coming-back game. And Lily made a threepointer. The whole place went nuts. There she was, no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes. But she was out there doing it.”

Nine months later, Lily says her PR is better than before cancer. “I’m definitely more in shape, and I’m able to push myself as hard as I want to,” Lily says, sharing that her pre-cancer record was bench-pressing 70 pounds. Now she can do 80.

In February, nominated by her St. John’s basketball coach Kathy Halligan, Lily won the national Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award, which recognizes players “who overcome adversity and make a lasting impact on their teams, schools, and communities.”

“I remember sitting at my desk between classes, and there was a random spam email from a recruiting service,” Coach Halligan says. “The guy was telling us not to forget to nominate athletes for this Naismith Courage Award. I was like, okay, courage award, what’s this about? And then I realized…this is Lily!”

In one week, Coach Halligan, with permis-

sion from Lily’s parents, submitted a nomination for Lily. The next week, she heard Lily was a

“This was her comingback game. And Lily made a three-pointer. The whole place went nuts. There she was, no hair, no eyebrows, no eyelashes. But she was out there doing it.”

finalist. “No kid should have to go through what Lily did,” Coach Halligan says. “Basketball was her safe place. She worked so hard on her worst of days to be in the gym and around her team and coaches. That I read that spam email…it was meant to be.”

Colleen says it’s surreal: “If you had asked me last April, when our world was crashing down,

we could never have imagined she would be receiving a national award for courage.

“One of the things we’ve talked about a lot is that cancer doesn’t define Lily,” Colleen says. “This is a part of her story, but it doesn’t define her. It’s one of the hardest things she’ll ever go through, and she did it as a 16- and 17-year-old. It’s given her a tremendous amount of strength. But she will still be herself after this.”

Quick to point out that she never wanted to be known as “the cancer kid,” Lily’s hope is that her story might inspire other young people to push through hard things. As she enters her senior year, Lily is excited about the future. “I’m gonna go to college,” she says. “I’m getting out of the south, that’s my plan. Either the East Coast or Midwest. I want to be on my own and independent.” She’s thinking about majoring in the sciences, maybe genetics, maybe medical research.

“Cancer takes away a lot of control in your life. It’s still doing that with my hair. It’s always been long, but it won’t be long again for another year. It’s growing back at its own pace, and there’s nothing I can do about that. But I’m done with the wig. It’s gone.”

SISTER TEAM Her first game back, Lily (on right) played against her sister Allison (on left), who was playing for St. Francis Episcopal; in an unforgettable shot, Lily scored a three-pointer.

by Michelle Casas Groogan, staff writer

The Buzz about The Beehive

The sacredness of belonging

In a world where teenagers are often underestimated, a group of Memorial-area high school students are proving just how powerful youth-led change can be.

By any definition, 15-year-old Memorial High sophomore Meredith Otness leads a jampacked life filled with worthy effort. She dances with the Markettes drill team, serves on the MHS yearbook committee, and takes advanced academic courses. Yet, in her few spare hours beyond books, study, and practice, Meredith has managed to deliver an extraordinary gift to her peers challenged with disabilities.

She is the creator and president of The Beehive, a vibrant, student-run organization that hosts themed events for teens and young adults of all abilities. The group organizes monthly social events like pool parties, costume contests, bingo nights, karaoke, holiday celebrations, sports days, disco parties, dance-offs, game nights, and even carnivals. All with the mission of generating inclusive, joyful spaces for teens and young adults with special needs.

Buzz about The Beehive has quickly spread; their biggest event last year included 26 participants.

“I did not expect Beehive to become as successful in such a short amount of time,” said Meredith. “We’ve had so many kids that I've never met before, so many parents reaching out expressing their gratitude, and now we're working on our 501c3 status.”

It all started one year ago with a quiet spark of inspiration, a conversation between Meredith and her friend, Edie Mahan, sitting in the back of an 8th-grade English Language Arts class at Memorial Middle, and has blossomed into something more meaningful and powerful than either dreamed possible.

“Every time I hear a parent say how grateful they are, or someone reaches out and says how cool it is, it just makes my heart so happy, because it just lets me know that we’ve really touched people in the community,” said Edie, now a Stratford sophomore and the group's vice president. “I never thought that it would get this big. And it's just so cool to think that from that little day in eighth grade we were planning these

things out, not even sure we were going to be able to do it.”

It is all part of a bigger mission calculated to include Meredith’s older brother, John, who has

a rare neurogenetic disorder called SETBP1 Haploinsufficiency. The initial, inclusive gathering, a small pool party in the Otness backyard, has grown exponentially in size and popularity,

COLONY BUZZ The Beehive board includes top row, from left: Luke Covacs (director of outreach), Rosemary Moore (director of graphic design and media), Abby McClees (secretary); front row, from left: Edie Mahan (vice president and co-founder), Paige Buri (treasurer), and Meredith Otness (president and founder).

so much so that The Beehive has approached area churches for space to better accommodate their expanding group of fun seekers. They are joyful gatherings, which trace their genesis to a younger sister’s abiding concern and love for her older brother.

John Otness is 17 and a junior at Memorial High School. His rare disorder causes speech disorders, autism, and intellectual disabilities.

“Despite my brother’s challenges, he is the kindest, sweetest, most compassionate soul of anyone I know,” said Meredith. “I saw how much he wanted to be included in social events, but had very little opportunities.”

What makes The Beehive truly exceptional is not just the fun-filled events – it’s who is running them. The organization is fully powered by high school students. From planning to decorating, volunteering and managing, these teens are in charge. The board consists of six students from Memorial, Stratford, and Houston Christian High Schools.

Among these young leaders is Luke Kovacs, a sophomore at Stratford High School and the only male member of the board. Luke serves as director of community outreach – a title he wears with pride and purpose.

“I’ve worked with special needs organizations before, but I’ve never seen anything like The Beehive,” Luke said. “It’s completely run by kids, for young adults. That’s something really special. I was moved by their mission – that’s what drove me to get involved.”

And he’s not alone. There’s no shortage of student volunteers ready to give their time, energy, and hearts to The Beehive. That’s in large part thanks to Meredith, who ensures that the organization stays true to its vision – no adults (besides a few participants, since all are welcome between the ages of 13-22). In fact, the

only adult regularly present at events is Meredith’s mom, Erin Otness, a pediatrician and quiet supporter, who lets the kids lead the way.

“Meredith has always looked out for him and seems to ‘get’ him on a different level than many other people,” said Erin. “She has a huge heart and really cares deeply about things. When she began to notice that her brother was occasionally lonely and longing for typical teen social opportunities, she knew she wanted

“I’ve worked with special needs organizations before, but I’ve never seen anything like The Beehive,” Luke said. “It’s completely run by kids, for young adults. That’s something really special.”

to do something. The Beehive was born from her vision of the types of opportunities that she wanted for her brother, but that did not seem to exist before. She started with an idea for how she could make the world a little better for her brother and other kids with similar challenges. I am so proud of and inspired by each of them.”

The idea thrived because Meredith recruited a compassionate group of friends to build it

with her.

“Our board genuinely has been a lifesaver, and our volunteers are the most amazing people,” said Meredith. “Some of them have been my friends in the past, some of them I met through The Beehive, but all of them have a heart and passion for it, to want to make it happen is what made it happen.”

The parents of the participants are deeply moved by the genuine inclusion their children with disabilities are experiencing. For families who have often felt overlooked, this sense of belonging means everything. Nineteen-year-old Carter Berg, who has Down syndrome, has been part of the program since the beginning.

“The one thing that's definitely missing from Carter’s life is being able to socialize with his peers, because his brother and sister are so much older, all he really has is me,” said mom Susan Collins, who works in customer service for Safeway Driving. “When I picked him up after the first outing, he would not stop. He was going a mile a minute, laughing, and just talking about how much fun they had. It was the sweetest and it is very rare that I get that from him. That’s what we are getting from Beehive, is that sense of fellowship and just being a typical teen, being able to be away from your mom for a few hours.”

The fact that their special needs children are nearing adulthood doesn’t mean their care gets any easier. In fact, many adults with disabilities are not able to stay home alone, which means parents still have the extended, lifelong cost of arranging “care” every time they leave their home.

The Beehive delivers a double dividend for these parents of both time and treasure. The events are free, other than a suggested donation of $25 to help cover

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SWEET AS HONEY Pictured at The Beehive’s Field Day are (from left) Kristin Walter and Edie Mahan frolicking with bubbles; Ford Rissmiller and David Morse with water guns; and Tristan Rojas and Edie Mahan with water guns.

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food costs. The parents get a bit of respite while their kids are getting the best kind of therapeutic experience there is – friendship, acceptance, and cherished high school moments.

“Beehive has truly been a shining light in Tristan’s life,” said Veronica Rojas about her 17year-old son who will be a junior at MHS, and has been attending Beehive events. “The friends and memories he has made are absolutely priceless. Meredith and all the dedicated volunteers have had a profoundly positive impact on

Tristan and his friends.”

Luke Kovacs shared that growing up with his own learning challenges of dyslexia and dysgraphia gives him a deeper understanding – a connection born from experience not just empathy.

“I’m not there for volunteer hours. I’m not there for college applications. I’m there to be a friend, and that’s what Beehive has given to me, another group of friends,” said Luke.

“It just means that we are doing something right and giving them a place to belong,” said

Share the Rare

Abby McClees, a sophomore at Stratford and the Beehive’s secretary.

The Beehive is far more than a club. It is a movement and proof that when young people are given the opportunity to lead with compassion and creativity, they can build something remarkable, enriching lives in the process.

Editor’s note: Visit thebeehivehtx.org or follow @the.beehive.htx on Instagram to learn more about the organization and find upcoming events. Their next event is a back-to-school party on Aug. 16.

In addition to creating community and planning fun events, The Beehive maintains a blog called “Share the Rare,” dedicated to educating readers about rare genetic diseases. They hope to encourage people to stop looking away and instead to look more closely and become curious about the many people in our community who are unique and fascinating and persevering despite their challenges. They highlight a particular disorder in each blog by featuring a child with the genetic anomaly. They have written about ATP6V1A Encephalopathy, Hunter Syndrome, GNB1 Disorder, SETBP1 Disorder, CACNA1A, Fragile X, Cohen syndrome, and Down syndrome. See thebeehivehtx.org/share-the-rare.

A PLACE FOR EVERYONE The Beehive hosts fun events for young people of all abilities. Top row, from left: Kate Weir paints Kayla Puthenmadathil’s face at The Beehive’s Field Day; Tristan Rojas and Meredith Otness at The Beehive Dance/Karaoke Party; Carter Berg and Tristan Rojas at The Beehive Sports/Board Game Night. Bottom row, from left: Lila Markowski, Blair Elder, Paige Buri, Meredith Otness, and Leah Babbitt at The Beehive Sports/Board Game Night; Meredith Otness and her brother John, who inspired her to start The Beehive.

by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Books That Make the Grade

Reads set on school campuses

August signals the approaching end of summer and a return to schools and universities. In keeping with the school theme, I compiled a list of books set in a campus environment, ranging from elementary through medical school. Oxford is clearly a popular setting for authors with four of these books taking place there. I hope these reads will help prepare you for the start to a new school year.

The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, 2023 (historical fiction) – Lovers of literature will find this historical novel utterly engaging. Williams blends fact and fiction while celebrating words, books themselves, and the power of the written word. The story is set in Oxford amidst the backdrop of World War 1 as men are slowly drafted and recruited to fight. Since age 12, twin sisters Peggy and Maude Jones have worked as bindery girls at Oxford University's Clarendon Press where they bind the books but are explicitly told to not read, just bind. As the war rages, Peggy is wrapped into a secret project as well as volunteering with wounded soldiers, both of which open up her limited world. The true beauty of the book is how Williams captures this historical period from a woman’s perspective, the unprecedented and catastrophic impact of the war, and the arrival of the Spanish Flu. I was completely invested in the characters and their lives and was delighted with the focus on words and books, which are at the heart of this tale.

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman, 2017 (fiction) – Class Mom is an entertaining book that kept me laughing out loud the entire time I was reading it. Laurie Gelman’s writing is witty and spot on as she tackles the politics of being a class parent in elementary school. The emails the main character Jen sends out to her kindergarten class are hysterical; Jen’s tactics to require participation included logging response times and calling out those individuals who always feel entitled to special consideration; no topic was safe from her sarcasm (however, she was not mean-spirited, which saved the book). Gelman creates a unique, hilarious novel with authentic characters that readers will recognize from their own experiences as a parent today. I also

enjoyed the fact that several issues were not wrapped up until the end with surprising resolutions (which I always love). This is a great one to read as school looms on the horizon. There are two sequels that I have not read.

The Eights by Joanna Miller, 2025 (historical fiction) – Oxford, 1920. Oxford has admitted female students for the first time in its 1,000year history. Exuberant about attending this historic university, four young and very different women move into rooms on the same hall and slowly develop an unlikely friendship. This compelling debut chronicles what it was like for these women to make history at Oxford while enduring hardship and pushback from men and women alike. Miller brings Oxford and the 1920s vividly to life as well as the suffrage movement. The women embrace the rapidly changing fashions of the time period, bob their hair, wait for Agatha Christie’s latest novel, and more. The Eights is an engrossing snapshot in

time that highlights an important moment in women’s history set against the backdrop of World War I’s aftermath.

The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu, 2025 (contemporary fiction) – Houstonian and high school teacher Jennifer Mathieu’s adult debut is a timely and relevant glimpse at today’s issues in schools and a tribute to educators. The story follows a large cast of teachers, administrators, and staff at Baldwin High School, a Texas high school that feels remarkably like Bellaire High School. Infused with heart and hilarity, The Faculty Lounge addresses what it is like to teach at a high school these days – helicopter parents commenting on curriculum choices, school shootings and lockdown drills, social media, book bannings, and more. I really enjoyed the format of The Faculty Lounge; each chapter is told from the point of view of someone working at the school. It was a delight to see how their lives connected as the story unfolds.

A+ READS The Eights by Joanna Miller unfolds at Oxford in 1920 as the university has admitted female students for the first time in its 1,000-year history; When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor is set at a British-operated missionary school in Chefoo, China during World War II.

Cindy Burnett

(Read a Q&A with the author in a Page Turners article; see thebuzzmagazines.com.)

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife by Ashley Winstead, 2021 (thriller) – This dual-timeline psychological thriller toggles between present day and 10 years prior when a woman was murdered in her dorm room, a crime that remains unsolved. The murder broke apart a close group of friends, and, in the present day, the individuals are returning to campus for the first time since graduation. But while some people are happy to leave the past behind, someone else wants to catch the killer. This page turner by Houstonian Ashley Winstead kept me up late into the night, madly reading to get to the end.

Murder by Degrees by Ritu Mukerji, 2023 (historical mystery) – Set in 1875 Philadelphia, this stellar debut follows Dr. Lydia Weston, a professor at Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania. Anna, a patient Dr. Weston has been seeing in the college’s affiliated outpatient clinic, shows up one evening in a manic state and then disappears just as quickly. Lydia is dismayed to learn that Anna’s body was subsequently dredged out of the Schuylkill River, and her death deemed a suicide. Certain Anna’s death could not be a suicide, Lydia insists on participating in the postmortem, after which she is drawn into the investigation of her demise. Mukerji creates a strong sense of time and place as well as crafting realistic and authentic characters. She vividly depicts Lydia’s medical procedures and examinations as well as what it would be like to work as a female doctor during this time period. The crime will keep you guessing until the last pages – the best kind of mystery.

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan, 2021 (historical fiction) – Callahan’s beautiful, magical, and captivating book, Once Upon a Wardrobe, delves into the question of what inspired C.S. Lewis to create Narnia. Megs Devonshire studies math and science at Oxford and relies on facts versus intuition. When her terminally ill brother, George, becomes infatuated with a new book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and implores her to find out how Narnia came about, Megs finds herself visiting C.S. Lewis, an Oxford don, and his brother Warnie, hoping to answer George’s questions. Instead of providing her answers directly, however, Lewis tells her stories about his own life growing up, which she then relays each weekend to George. While Megs struggles to find the connections, George helps her understand the stories that Lewis relates and how they led to the creation of Narnia.

Party Girls Die in Pearls by Plum Sykes, 2017 (mystery) – In Party Girls Die in Pearls, Plum Sykes crafts a clever tale filled with memorable and mostly likeable characters set at Oxford University in the mid-1980s. Sykes’ sly, witty, and occasionally tongue-in-cheek method of telling Ursula’s adventure makes Party Girls Die in Pearls a highly entertaining tale that kept

me laughing and marveling at Sykes’ incredible storytelling skills. The mystery was well-done and realistic, and the resolution of the crime was highly satisfying and thankfully not easy to puzzle out. The many twists and turns added both suspense and at times humor to her story. I thoroughly enjoyed the many ’80s references including Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, tube tops, and huge hairstyles. Sykes also employed footnotes to explain or comment on certain references; these footnotes added greatly to the ingeniousness of the book.

True Biz by Sara Novic, 2022 (contemporary fiction) – True Biz is set at a residential school for the Deaf and tackles American Sign Language and lip-reading, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and most importantly, courage, daring, and joy. It is an absorbing and unforgettable journey into the Deaf community, and Sara Novic beautifully explores the ways language can include, exclude, or help forge an identity through the students who attend the River Valley School for the Deaf. I learned so much about how isolating it can be for those who cannot hear, American Sign Language versus British Sign Language, cochlear implants, the power of language, and the history of the Deaf community and Deaf schools.

When We Were Young & Brave by Hazel Gaynor, 2020 (historical fiction) – In When

We Were Young & Brave, Gaynor brings to life teachers and students at a British-operated missionary school in Chefoo, China. Inspired by a true story, the tale chronicles the group’s experience as captives of the occupying Japanese army during World War II. The Chefoo School educated the children of missionaries and diplomats, and in peaceful times, the teachers were tasked with not only educating but also serving as stand-in parents to children whose parents sometimes left them there for months or years. When Japan declared war on Britain and the United States, the Japanese forces (who had already invaded China) took control of the Chefoo School and eventually moved it to an internment camp, requiring the teachers to help their students weather unimaginable adversity. Alternating between two characters, teacher Elspeth Kent and student Nancy Plummer, Gaynor vividly portrays the horrors of war, life in captivity, the resilience of humans, and the importance of relationships.

Editor’s note: Book reviewer Cindy Burnett also writes our monthly Buzz Reads column and weekly Page Turners column at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts an award-winning book podcast entitled Thoughts from a Page Podcast www.thoughtsfromapage.com, runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfrompage, and regularly speaks to groups about books.

HIT THE BOOKS The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu depicts life at a contemporary high school, set in Houston.

Cindy Burnett

by Cathy Gordon, staff writer

The School that Shaped a Town

A century of learning, legacy, and lasting memories at West University Elementary

It’s early morning and West University is alive with motion. The hum of chatter. The whir of bicycle wheels. The slap of sneakered feet on pavement. Kids walk hand in hand with parents, backpacks bouncing as they go. The occasional bark of a dog trotting loyally alongside pierces the air.

When school starts, the community’s sidewalks lead like tributaries to West University Elementary (WUE), its red brick warmed by 100 years of sun and seasons. The pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade school celebrates its centennial this year with a slate of events planned to honor students, families, teachers, and alumni, a parade and gala among them. It opened the fall of 1925, thanks to a parent-led vision that led to the passing of a $55,000 bond.

Generations of footsteps have since padded down these halls. Saddle shoes to sneakers.

On a recent day, Principal Scott Disch gave a tour, pointing out giant oaks on the grounds that have provided decades of shade and backrests. Once no taller than a shovel handle, they’re giant canopies now, rooted and strong. The school grew with them, student population now just under 1200. The principal’s father, Jimmy Disch walked these same halls as a kid.

“West University Elementary was started by the parents as a school for the community. And 100 years later, it’s got that same special connection, the same small-town feel with amazing support from the community,” says the 43-year-old, whose daughters Blaire, 6, and Scarlett, 9, start first and third grade, respectively, this month.

The last day of the 2024-25 school year was the first time Disch saw once gap-toothed kindergarteners fly the nest as long-legged, confident students headed to middle school. He started his post six years ago, the same time that class of graduates did.

“Keep in mind, elementary school is a place where a kid is going to spend the most time in one school. Middle school is only three years; high school is four. They change so much when they’re in elementary.”

His father, a retired Rice University kinesiology professor, was there for a recent visit. He located his second-grade locker, no problem. He

has a picture of his fifthgrade class in 1956, boys in neatly pressed buttondown shirts; girls in swirling skirts, socks folded into Mary Janes and two-toned saddle shoes.

“I could come up with 21 names from that picture,” says the elder Disch, 77. “Several I went to high school with.”

Teacher Karen Miller has seen a lot of faces come and go. She has taught there 39 years, seven years in fourth grade, 32 teaching fifth. Her daughter, Paige, a WUE alum, graduates from Oklahoma City University next year. Karen plans to retire after this school year. “The 100th is a good year to go out on,” she states.

She feels privileged to teach children of her former students. “For the past five years, I have seen that. And I’ve also taught with teachers here that I had as students. They want to teach at the school they went to. That says a lot.”

Each year, Miller has fifth graders pen a letter to themselves that will be mailed to them upon high school graduation. They write about where they plan to go to middle school, to high school, where they hope to attend college and what they hope to study. They talk about the styles of the day, trends, their teachers. What’s the thing they’ll miss the most, the least?

Miller methodically logs the letters in sequential order in a Tupperware bin with the year they

will graduate. And they’re mailed off, little treasures in sometimes lopsided, uneven writing, time capsules to their future self. It makes for great fun at the annual senior reunion when students visit WUE, a tradition started under former principal John Threet.

The seniors gather on stage, in the cafeteria, a video of their fifth-grade graduation playing behind them. Teachers, principals, some family

A LEGACY IN LUNCHBOXES West University Elementary roots run deep in this family. Andrea Weems (last name Behrend during teaching days) began her 22-year stint as a second-grade teacher at West University Elementary the same year daughter Lainey Seidel started kindergarten. Lainey’s children now walk those same halls, with eldest daughter Greta graduating last June. Pictured, top row, from left: Andrea Weems, Greta, 11, Lainey Seidel; bottom row, from left: Mary Elaine, 6, Barbara, 9, and Susie, 8.

attend. “Sometimes, there are tears,” Miller says. “Some look exactly like they did, just a grownup version of themselves, and others you don’t immediately recognize because they’ve changed so much.”

Elle Bradley, a graduate of St. Agnes Academy, was excited to receive her letter at the end of the 2024-25 school year, albeit it didn’t come by mail. It was handed off to WUE teacher Ami Bradley, her mom, who was bestowed that honor.

“I was so excited to get it!” exudes Bradley who starts her studies in early childhood education at the University of Texas this fall. Her dream? She wants to teach at WUE.

“I wrote about that, so it’s pretty crazy to see that’s happening,” she says of her college plans. Walking into her kindergarten class at the senior reunion brought back the warm fuzzies. “It was like ‘Oh my goodness, I remember all of this like it’s the first day of school!’”

Mariann Dunwoody and husband David shared childhoods as students at WUE, where her grandmother Martha Ann Finnegan taught for many years. The two had mutual friends. Wrapped each other’s houses. When she met David’s mom Kackie Dunwoody, a WUE teacher, she could never have dreamed she’d one day become her daughter-in-law.

Two of the couple’s four children, Claire, 10, and Holden, 6, are WUE fifth and first graders this year. Son David, 14, spent his elementary years there. “What a gift it is that several of our children have gone there, along with quite a few of their cousins, from both sides of the family.”

A core memory for Dunwoody is the red brick pillared porch off a large kindergarten room where parents picked up their kids at end of day. They still do today. “It’s just so precious, so storybook.”

“I loved that as a kindergartener. But it was a long day for me, so I switched to half-day kindergarten, which they had back then, and I was moved to another kindergarten room that’s now

nurse Paula’s room,” says Dunwoody.

Paula Bottecelli started here as school nurse 25 years ago when her youngest entered fifth grade and her oldest went off to college. She’s seen her share of sniffles, scraped knees, and pint-sized maladies.

She feels privileged to teach children of her former students. “For the past five years, I have seen that. And I’ve also taught with teachers here that I had as students. They want to teach at the school they went to. That says a lot.”

Her office, near the front door, is a great pickup spot for parents coming to get their ailing children. Not that all of them are ailing. She’s seen creative excuses, too. Stomachaches can suspiciously appear before a test.

“And I’ve created a monster of my own doing giving out Aquaphor for chapped lips and cream for bug bites. A lot of students come in for that.

“I feel like this school is the heart of West University,” says the 73-year-old. “It’s very multicultural. We have people there from all over the world. And it’s a well-rounded school. Academically rigorous with social and emotional learning as well, a lot of high intellectual stimulation for the kids. Even though not everybody’s kids in West University go to school here, there’s

still this amazing connection to the community.”

Through Houston’s Spark Park program, WUE’s playgrounds exist as community parks, open to the public after school hours and on weekends. The PTO plans an upcoming auction to raise money for playground upgrades.

“I’m very proud of our school and Principal Disch,” says former WUE teacher Cindy Lillard, who owns Little Matt’s restaurant with husband Bill across the street. “When that bell rings, I’ll look out and there’s people all over the playground visiting, no one’s in a hurry. That’s very special nowadays with how busy the pace of life is.”

She taught from 2001-05, then subbed for a few years while her youngest child was a student there. She’s seen two grandsons graduate from the school and has two granddaughters there now.

“Of all the schools I’ve taught in, and I’ve done public and private, it is by far the largest but feels like the smallest because of the charm of it all, the number of volunteers, the incredible administration, the neighborhood and the walkability to it.” Lillard says. “It feels like Mayberry.”

PTO board member Caroline Walter says the “Mayberry feel” attracted her and husband Kevin, a former Houston Texans wide receiver, to the community. “People ask me all the time why I love this school so much and I really don’t have an answer because it’s not just one thing. It’s everything,” she stresses. Her son James, 10, is in his final year there. Sienna, 15, and Vince, 13, are WUE graduates.

“It’s not the norm in 2025 to see most students walking or biking to and from school, stopping for an ICEE or cookie afterwards at the local businesses who welcome them like little celebrities. But we are living it in real time. It’s a wholesome, almost old-fashioned place with a sense of community and simple joys.

“The building itself is amazing,” she adds. “It’s like getting to go into a big antique every day. It’s beautiful.”

She came across a sealed

(continued on page 32)

HISTORY IN THE HALLS School principal Scott Disch’s father, Jimmy Disch, 77, (pictured, right photo) attended West University Elementary. He recently found his school locker during a visit. He can name 21 of his schoolmates from this 1956 class photo (left).

(continued from page 31)

box with some 1939-40 report cards, a 1939 class photo, teacher list, and other archival material while cleaning out a closet behind the school stage one day. Whiffs of history.

Recent decades have included chickens. WUE art teacher Jenny Wood, who formerly taught second grade for 14 years, was also a student here. Her mom, Ruth Bohannon, taught Spanish at the school from 1974-1990.

Wood has the advantage of in-laws with a ranch.

“We have an incubator in the classroom and, hopefully 21 days later, we have some chickens. But the whole thing is, you know, you can’t count your chickens before they hatch,” jokes Wood who teaches the fundamentals of chicken rearing, egg on up.

In her classroom, art lessons fly on tiny wings. Chicks launch on desks, fluffy and golden, and the students sketch them and name them. They peep and perch on heads.

When they’re teen chickens, she gently tosses them out the first-floor art room window to do their foraging and exploring. Food before the class bell easily entices them back in. Two renegade chickens, Bandit and Star, inevitably go rogue, sprinting all the way around the school to the front, by the flagpole. “We’d get texts from mothers in the office. Pretty soon, everyone knew their names.”

Parents and their kids sign up to take guardianship of two chicks for a night.

Quinn Hughes, 11, loved caring for them. They foraged in the bushes and strutted over his math homework. Wood got a new incubator lamp, and more chicks hatched than usual, says his mom, so they had more than a pair – more like a flock – for the peep-over. Quinn’s sister Emmeline, 8, was equally enthused. “It was my favorite thing!”

“These are the kind of things I just love about the school and the teachers,” exudes

outgoing PTO president Lainey Seidel. Daughters Greta, 11, Barbara, 9, Susie, 8, and Mary Elaine, 6, were under the same school roof “for one glorious year” for the 2024-25 school year, laments their mom, former student along with brother Kyle Behrend. She started kindergarten the year her mom, a second-grade teacher, began a 22-year stint there.

Seidel’s second-grade classroom was next to her mom’s. She made fast tracks to her mom following the one and only time she had to sign the conduct book. She wasn’t cut any slack. “Mom asked why I had to sign it, and I told her I was talking in class when I wasn’t supposed to. Mom was like, ‘Well, yeah. Sounds like you needed to sign the conduct book.’”

Seidel loves the school’s traditions, especially Boo Bash where streets are roped off for a carnival-like fall experience with giant inflatables, food, and games.

A cotton dress with Peter Pan collar made by

ONE SCHOOL, MANY MEMORIES Top left photo: Mariann Dunwoody and husband David shared childhoods at West University Elementary where relatives once taught, and some of their children are former and current students. Pictured, top row, from left: David and daughter Claire, 10; bottom row, from left: David, 14, William, 11, Holden, 6, and their mother Mariann. Top right photo: Principal Scott Disch’s dad, Jimmy Disch, was a student at WUE, as are the principal’s daughters Scarlett, 9, and Blaire, 6. Bottom left photo: WUE teachers pose in their Halloween costumes in 1987. Pictured, from left: Karen Rhodes, Mary Elizabeth Griffin, Karen Miller, and Vanita Reed. Bottom right photo: Former teacher Andrea Weems (then last name Behrend) has fun with her second-grade homeroom students at the recess tree during the 2000-01 school year.

AND CHICKS Top left photo: Lainey Seidel’s family cherishes a dress her godmother made for her first day of school, a cotton frock

mice carrying crayons running across it. Here she is, at 5, wearing that dress that her four daughters have worn for their kindergarten debuts, too. Top right photo:

daughter Susie wears the dress for her first day at WUE. Bottom left photo: Chickens are a highlight in art teacher Jenny Wood’s class, where students learn about them, egg on up, sketch them, and take guardianship of a pair for the evening, via sign-up sheet. Here, one has come to roost on Wood’s head. Bottom right: Quinn Hughes, 11, and sister Emmeline, 8, were thrilled to take some chicks home for the night.

her godmother, mice carrying crayons running across it, is somewhat of a family heirloom. It was Seidel’s first-day kindergarten dress. Her daughters wore it their first day of kindergarten as well. “Maybe one day, if they have daughters, it will be worn again.”

Lainey’s mother, Andrea Weems, loves that her daughter is so involved in the school through the PTO. She lauds the group for their fundraisers, providing once-a-month teacher lunches, all manner of activities. “She grew up as a teacher’s child, so she knows how hard teachers work and how much support they deserve to get a job done,” she says.

Weems (last name Behrend when she taught

there) recalls doing Fairytale Theater with her second-grade classes, putting out a call for large boxes and canvas for their stage props. “They had the best time painting them!”

The aesthetic draw of the school is undeniable, she says. A local Ford dealership shot a commercial in the community in the late ’90s because they wanted the red brick school in the background. Weems and her students participated, barely visible in the commercial, but the kids were thrilled. When she retired, a church friend painted a watercolor of the second-grade playground as a parting gift. It hangs in her home.

Seeing her granddaughter Greta graduate

from WUE in June was a heart tug, she says. Her throat caught a lump. Eyes welled up. Time folded in on itself. Here she was again, the next generation. It came so fast.

The school isn’t just a building, she says. It’s part of her family, a living testament to what parents – and grandparents – want for their child.

“Every time I walk into that school, it’s like coming home.”

See www.westupto.org/centennial for information about upcoming alumni events in celebration of West University Elementary’s centennial, including the Centennial Parade, Sat., Aug 23, and the Centennial Celebration Gala, Sat., April 18.

CUTENESS

with

Lainey’s

. by Cindy Burnett, staff writer

Buzz Reads Five

picks for August

Buzz Reads is a column about books by reviewer Cindy Burnett. Each month, Cindy recommends five recently or soon-to-be released titles.

The Beast in the Clouds: The Roosevelt Brothers’ Deadly Quest to Find the Mythical Giant Panda by Nathalia Holt (nonfiction) –For lovers of history, nature, and adventure, The Beast in the Clouds is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s two oldest sons and their 1920s Himalayan expedition to determine whether the panda bear actually existed or whether rumors about a striped black and white bear were just a myth. While the trip was ultimately successful, they encountered numerous hardships including a vicious blizzard, an attack by robbers, and the loss of many of their supplies. After the success of the brothers’ expedition, the panda bear unfortunately became the focus of Western hunters, but their discovery also led to a new era of animal conservation and began to change the way scientists studied mammals. The Beast in the Clouds contains fabulous photos of their incredible journey. This book is a great fit for fans of engaging nonfiction, adventure stories, conservation, and animals.

Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild (contemporary fiction) – This stunning debut is a wild ride that is best read with very little knowledge about the premise. Honor seems to have everything. She adores her daughter Chloe and her husband Tom and loves her career as a children’s author. But her longing for another baby threatens to eclipse it all until a shocking event changes their lives forever. Finding Grace is very unique, something that is hard to accomplish in today’s world when so many books are being published. At times, I felt like I was watching an impending train wreck with no way to stop it, and I could not put the book down until I had finished it. This one is for readers who like genre mashups, thoughtprovoking premises, and distinctive stories.

Her Many Faces by Nicci Cloke (thriller) –Following the murders of four wealthy members of an exclusive club in London, a young waitress named Katherine Cole is arrested and accused of poisoning them. The story is narrated by five different men in her life, and each narrator brings

their own biases, blind spots, and agendas to their depiction of Katherine, making the reader question whose version of events can be trusted. This fascinating commentary on how people, especially women, are perceived by the world has stayed with me since I finished it, and I enjoyed the exploration of power dynamics, social media, gender biases, and conspiracy theories in today’s world. It will appeal to those who enjoy novel and intelligent storytelling and thought-provoking tales.

The Last Assignment by Erika Robuck (historical fiction) – In The Last Assignment, Robuck chronicles the life of awardwinning photojournalist Georgette “Dickey” Chapelle, a woman who dedicated her life to capturing history no matter the personal cost. Dickey was one of the first female war photographers and the first one to be killed in action. She traveled to various conflicts, ending up in a prison run by Soviet secret police during the Hungarian Revolution, embedding herself with Fidel Castro in revolutionary Cuba, and covering the earliest days of the war in Vietnam. This arresting story is a testament to Dickey’s courage and determination as well as her insistence on showing the world the injustices occurring far and near. The Last Assignment is a good fit for those who like biographical fiction, stories set around the world, and tales about women lost to history.

The main character Ivona has experienced so much loss and struggles to come to term with her current life. Hilje chronicles her attempts to move forward against the backdrop of Croatia’s culture and food. Croatia is a stunningly beautiful country that comes alive on the pages of this debut, and Hilje depicts what life is like in a country younger than oneself that has so much history but is also still recovering from war. The prose is so graceful and lyrical, a feat that is even more impressive because Hilje wrote it in English, her second language. This book is for fans of unique settings, learning about other cultures and countries, and complicated love stories.

Slanting Towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje (contemporary fiction) – This character-driven debut examines how love is not always enough to sustain a relationship and the fallout that results.

Editor’s note: Book reviewer Cindy Burnett also writes our weekly Page Turners column at thebuzzmagazines.com. She hosts an award-winning book podcast entitled Thoughts from a Page Podcast www.thoughtsfromapage.com, runs the Instagram account @thoughtsfrompage, and regularly speaks to groups about books.

WHAT TO READ This month’s selections include a story set in Croatia, a nonfiction book about the panda bear, a thriller told in a unique way, a contemporary debut, and historical fiction highlighting a trailblazing woman.

Cindy Burnett

. by Tracy L. Barnett, staff writer

Travel Buzz

Father-Son Zoo Road Trips Build Bonds, One Elephant at a Time

When Ed Wolff's son Jake was small, he would set up train sets in his room. Jake would always build a zoo around them.

“I couldn’t have imagined it would go as far as it did,” Ed reflects. "It was something he loved from the time he was three or four.”

Now 20, Jake is transforming that childhood passion into a zoo & conservation science degree at Drake University and a summer job working with elephants at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium – rated No. 1 zoo in the United States by USA Today for three consecutive years.

For Jake, elephants are the heart of his passion. His love affair began at Houston Zoo, which runs one of the country’s largest elephant breeding programs – and which, incidentally, has a train. “Growing up, we always had the babies coming through,” he explains. As a member of the Zoo Crew teen volunteers, he spent weeks working with the elephant team, learning about their complex social structures. “You kind of get to see every facet of elephants and of their care in zoos.”

What captivates Jake about elephants is their ability to connect with people. “They’re so smart that you can so easily kind of pick up on what they’re doing because it’s very similar to stuff that we as people do,” he says. “And so I think it really helps people want to take care of them.”

His mentor elephant is Thailand, Houston Zoo’s massive bull who turned 60 this year and ranks as the second oldest in North America. “He's the size of an African elephant, but he’s still an Asian elephant,” Jake explains. “He's a very gentle giant. He's definitely my favorite.”

Zoos were a recurring theme throughout Jake’s childhood, but when Jake headed to college at Drake University in Des Moines, the formal zoo road trips with his father began.

The journey from toy elephants to real ones has been paved with countless miles of highway, shared music playlists, and visits to more than 60 zoos across the country. What started as college visits has evolved into elaborate father-son road trips that have strengthened

their already close relationship, while preparing Jake for his career and opening unexpected windows into the world of conservation.

“Jake’s always driven, so he wanted to take his car to school, and I was not comfortable with him driving 800 miles alone,” Ed explains. The solution became an opportunity: drive together but make strategic stops along the way.

This summer, we caught up with the pair on their latest road trip to Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, as Jake prepared for his summer job as a seasonal elephant keeper. They reminisced about their journeys as they drove across the Texas Panhandle and crossed over into New Mexico, grassy plains turning into slowly rising mesas on the horizon. That was the day they were slated to wind through Colorado, adding the Pueblo Zoo and Colorado Springs to their growing list before finally landing in Omaha.

Their first major zoo-focused trip took them through Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Wichita, and Omaha. “That was the first trip where each day, we were focused on getting somewhere to go to their zoo,” Jake says. “One day it was two zoos. It takes getting up early in the morning, being there at 9 a.m., and being finished with that zoo by noon so we can be at the next one within two to three hours.”

The ambitious pace has led to some memorable marathon days. On one trip returning from New Orleans, Jake plotted a route that allowed them to visit Baton Rouge Zoo, Alexandria Zoo, and Ellen Trout Zoo in Lufkin – three zoos in one day – and still make it home by 6:30 p.m.

Their travels have taken them to some of the country’s most renowned facilities. Jake holds a special fondness for several: Houston Zoo, where his passion began through five years on the Zoo Crew and then a stint as a camp counselor and guide; Brookfield Zoo outside Chicago (“which uniquely has no elephants,” he notes with a laugh); Memphis Zoo, where he completed an internship; and Little Rock Zoo, built by the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps with stunning 1930s rock work.

The St. Louis Zoo provided one of their most memorable experiences. After driving from 4 a.m. to arrive at opening time, they stayed the entire day, meeting with elephant keepers and learning about Raja, the famous bull elephant born in St. Louis.

These trips have become much more than sightseeing adventures. Jake’s growing reputation in the zoo community has opened doors that transform ordinary visits into behind-the-

FATHER-SON ZOO ADVENTURES Jake and Ed Wolff have traveled to more than 60 zoos together. Here, the father-son duo is pictured at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs in June 2025, their most recent trip.

Jake Wolff

scenes educational experiences. “Everywhere we go, somebody knows Jake or somebody he knows, and he has gotten us behind the scenes of almost every zoo we’ve gone to,” Ed marvels.

At the Tulsa Zoo, they received a three-hour tour of the new elephant barn from someone Jake met at the Elephant Managers Association Conference. In St. Louis, a zookeeper Jake had connected with at a conference gave them a private tour and introduced them to the elephants. These connections aren’t just enriching the trips – they’re building Jake’s professional network for his future career.

“It's been really, really neat and it’s also building relationships for him that will be really valuable in the future,” Ed observes.

The trips have evolved into more than zoo visits. They’ve discovered unexpected treasures like Showmen’s Rest in Hugo, Oklahoma – the circus capital of the world – where cemetery headstones feature photos of performers with their elephants, clowns, and trapeze artists. “That was definitely one of the more unexpected experiences, but we talk about it all the time.

We wouldn’t trade it for just about anything,” Jake says.

Spontaneity often creates the most memorable moments. In Kansas City, they arrived during a Chiefs preseason game. “Jake went on his phone, found two $13 tickets, and we ended up at the Kansas City Chiefs game,” Ed recalls. “It’s the things that you do spontaneously that you end up remembering the most.”

For Jake, education and conservation are inseparable. “Conservation is something that you can really enjoy,” he emphasizes, pushing back against the perception that caring for the environment requires sacrifice or guilt. Through his zoo work, he’s learned to create “lightbulb moments” – those instant connections when people suddenly understand their role in conservation.

Some of the many conservation tips he would share with zoo visitors included encouraging them to plant native and pollinator-friendly plants; turn off the lights at night during migratory periods (Houston is in the middle of the central flyway, which is a migratory route for

hundreds of millions of birds each year); and recycling cell phones and old electronics to help save gorillas and other animals who live in the areas mined for parts. (The Houston Zoo will take them!)

When he was volunteering in Houston as a part of the Zoo Crew, he would talk to parents and their children, he recalls. “They’d tell me, Jake, I spoke to you two years ago. You told me about this. I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting to apply and here I am.”

The road trips have also deepened the fatherson bond. “I feel like we’ve always been close. It just has certainly solidified that relationship,” Ed reflects. The hours of driving provide uninterrupted time for conversation about everything from music to life goals.

Their travel style emphasizes flexibility over rigid planning. “I think you over-plan a trip and that destroys the vibe,” Ed says. “If you go with the flow, you can say, we have three days to get there, but outside of that, everything else is fine.”

For Ed, the chance to be on the sidelines and watch his son interacting (continued on page 38)

FROM ELEPHANTS TO EPITAPHS Clockwise, from upper left: Hondo the baby elephant at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, where Jake is working this summer as a seasonal elephant keeper; Showmen’s Rest in Hugo, Oklahoma, where circus performers from around the world are laid to rest; playful baby tigers at the Saint Louis Zoo; and lions at the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa.

Jake Wolff

(continued from page 37)

with professionals in his field and the animals themselves is something he has treasured. And for Jake, it’s meant validation of his career choice.

“It is something that's difficult to explain to people,” he said. “They say, ‘Oh, so you’re scooping poop for the rest of your life…’ There's a lot more nuance and importance that people don’t

By Ed and Jake Wolff

pick up on. And I’m really, really glad that that’s not something I have to worry about, not only with my dad, but with my whole family.”

Jake’s mother, Katy, and his twin sister Tenley joined them in Omaha to celebrate Ed and Katy’s 26th anniversary – and to get a glimpse of Jake’s summer job setting.

“Everyone needs to take the time to spend

Tips from Our Travelers

Worth the splurge: Omaha Steak Dinner! The Mississippi Aquarium.

with family, doing something,” Ed concludes. “It doesn’t have to be these long road trips. It can be a staycation. It can be at home in your own city... There are things you can do at home that are just as impactful.”

But for the Wolffs, the road keeps calling, and the zoos keep teaching, one mile and one elephant at a time.

Don’t miss: When visiting zoos, always ask what the schedule is for keeper chats that day and check out behind-the-scenes options.

Favorite restaurants: Kazama Ramen, Tulsa, Okla.; 801 Chophouse, Omaha, Neb.; Dio Mio Italian, Denver, Colo.; and Town Topic Hamburgers, Kansas City, Mo.

Don’t forget: A good playlist, a good attitude, and the willingness to be flexible.

Local favorite: Downtown Memphis, specifically The Pyramid, The Peabody, cable cars on Main Street, River City Records, The Rendezvous bar-b-que, and Redbirds AAA Baseball game. Memphis is great!

Safety tip: Be willing to stop when tired.

Not really worth the trouble: Imo’s Pizza in St. Louis; also Branson, Mo., as a whole…The truth is that ratings are not always the best way to find things. Both of these are highly rated and yet were among the worst experiences we have had.

Unexpected hit: Showmen’s Rest in Hugo, Okla. We were told to stop by a graveyard in rural Oklahoma and it was one of the best things we have ever done. It’s the resting place for circus performers from all over the world.

FROM HOUSTON TO KENYA, WITH LOVE Clockwise from upper left: Jake with Baraka the Black Rhino at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya; baby Rojo the jaguar at the Houston Zoo; Jake in his first year volunteering at the Houston Zoo; Jake, Ed, Tenley, and Katy with Asali the elephant at the Memphis Zoo.

Jake Wolff

. by Todd Freed, staff writer

SportzBuzz

In a memorable two-and-a-half-week stretch, St. Pius X ’23 graduate Victoria Hunter won a national softball championship while playing for the Texas Longhorns and then, only 16 days later, former St. Pius X Panthers star pitcher Casan Evans, a ’24 graduate, captured a national baseball championship with the LSU Tigers. In doing so, St. Pius X lays claim as the nation’s only high school to produce national champions in both baseball and softball this season.

“It’s pretty cool for that to happen,” said Hunter, who was back home on campus this summer as a special guest instructor at her alma mater’s softball camp. “Going to school with Casan at St. Pius X and knowing just how good he was back then and now for us to win national titles in the same year is pretty special for us and for St. Pius.”

A four-time all-state player, Hunter just wrapped up a standout sophomore season for the Longhorns capped off by the first national softball championship in Texas Longhorns history. The Longhorns sealed the title with a 10-4 victory over Texas Tech in the third and deciding game of the National Championship series.

“Being part of the first softball team to ever win it all while wearing the burnt orange is one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever experienced in my life. The amount of pride and joy that I felt was amazing,” said Hunter. “Our teammates wanted it more for each other than just for themselves. It meant everything.”

“Everyone at our school is just so excited,” added Panthers assistant softball coach Kennedy Thomas. “There’s just so much pride knowing that we’re producing national champions.”

Shortly after Hunter celebrated the national championship, it was much the same scenario for Evans. “It’s pretty remarkable,” said Casan’s father and St. Pius X head baseball coach Mike Evans. “Watching those two players grow and be at the pinnacle of their sport is just special. Casan and Victoria thrived both on and off the field here at St. Pius X.”

It was a special season for Evans, who was honored as an NCAA Freshman All-American. The standout pitcher capped off the season by posting a save in the College World Series opener over Arkansas followed by a World Series win on the

mound over UCLA. Three games later, the Tigers were crowned national champions in a 5-3 championship final victory over Coastal Carolina.

“Watching Casan celebrate the national championship with his teammates was just so awesome to witness,” added Coach Evans. “It was also the culmination of all his hard work. Knowing the position Casan was going to have to fight for as an incoming freshman at the major collegiate level and then to succeed as well as he did was especially rewarding.”

Intennis, The Emery/Weiner School Jaguars captured a fourth straight TAPPS 5A State Championship behind a remarkable fourth consecutive state singles championship from ’25 graduate Josephine Lombardi. A national high school All-American who’ll play college tennis at Dartmouth, Lombardi went undefeated over the course of a dominating senior season.

“It’s just a reflection of her love and dedication to the game,” said Lombardi’s father and Jaguars tennis coach David Lombardi “Josephine’s ranked among the nation’s top 60 players in her age group and as her dad and head coach I’m just really proud of her.”

Meantime, Lombardi’s freshman daughter Juliet Lombardi (now an incoming sophomore) teamed up with junior Ella Totz (now an incoming senior) to win the state doubles championship for the Jaguars. The duo won every set over the course of four matches at the state tournament. In addition, Jaguars ’25 graduate Emmy Brounes helped propel the Jaguars to a state title with a thrilling tie-breaking victory in her opening match at the state tournament.

On the boys side, the Jaguars came within one point of winning the state championship. Nathan Masturzo and Alex Aronson both won their opening matches in singles play, as did the doubles tandem of Benji Berzin and Eytan Skorupski with the duo of Mohr Sasson and Levi Leibman also contributing to the Jaguars runner-up finish at the state tournament.

Editor’s note: Todd Freed is the host and executive producer of H-Town High School Sports, which airs Saturday at 10:30 p.m. on CW39 and Monday-Thursday on AT&T SportsNet SW. To submit high school sports news for possible inclusion in SportzBuzz, please email todd@thebuzzmagazines.com.

FOUR-TIME STATE CHAMPION The Emery/Weiner School’s Josephine Lombardi captured a remarkable fourth consecutive state singles championship to help lead the Jaguars to four straight TAPPS 5A State Tennis Championships. A ’25 graduate, Lombardi will play college tennis at Dartmouth.

The Emery/Weiner School

. by Annie Blaylock McQueen, staff writer

SportzBuzz Jr.

Welcome to SportzBuzz Jr., a column spotlighting neighborhood athletes in elementary and middle school.

Clinching the win

The West University Little League wrapped up its 2025 season with an exciting finish as the Yankees Majors claimed the league’s World Series Championship in a close 3–2 win over the Braves. After steady improvement throughout the regular season, the Yankees hit their stride in the playoffs, going on a six-game winning streak and outscoring opponents 58–16. Following the championship win, league players of all ages stormed the field, joined by coaches, parents, and family members. Pictured (sitting, from left) are players Ellis Condrey, Tarquin Cortez, Cameron Lee, Davis Ryals, Connor Liang, Wills Laird, Preston Pannell, Leighton Dawson, Bowen Rodgers, and Graham Werner. Coaches (standing, from left) are William Condrey, Jamie Liang, Adam Laird (manager), Craig Dawson, and Matthew Werner

Tar Heels win

The Tar Heels capped off an unforgettable season at Bellaire Little League, playing their hearts out on the Horn Elementary School baseball field and securing the regular season championship title. The team was led by Head Coach Matt Hudlow and supported by a team of assistant coaches including Chase Findley, Boyd Nash-Stacey, Derrick Knight, and Nathan Tollett. Though they fell short of making it to the final playoff game after a tough loss in the semifinal, the team finished as the topranked squad for the regular season. The boys received gold championship rings. Jason Huynh earned the game ball in the team’s final matchup. Pictured (top row, from left) are coach assistants Chase Findley, Boyd Nash-Stacey, head coach Matt Hudlow, Derrick Knight, Nathan Tollett; (middle row, from left) Thomas Findley, Courtney Knight, Blake Most, Elijah Smith, Jason Huynh; (front row, from left) Grant Tollett, Daniel Semikov, Joshua Allensworth, Leo Ross, Julian Nash-Stacey, Jackson Verash, and Henry Hudlow

Just keep swimming

The Bellaire Barracudas Swim Team had a fantastic 2025 season, with a total of 295 swimmers and over 80 who qualified for the Southwest Aquatic League Championship swim meet at Willow Pool. Teammates (pictured, from left) Ilsa Erickson, Emersen Sud, Han Vora, Lily Flinders, Cecilia (Namha) Tran, Mia Torres, Bella Torres, Charlotte Duncan, Madelyn Melville , and Eliana Munro waited poolside for their turn to swim their races in their big final meet of the season. The Barracudas’ head coaches are Sophie McCollum and Natalie Cheng . Assistant coaches included Ani Burris-Richardson, Austin Byun, Carver Hix, Catherine Renshaw, Clara Liu, Jolie Burris-Richardson, Kasen Burris-Richardson, Miranda Wang, Rachel Serna, Reva Sinha, Ryan Osborne, Teresa Cheng , and Valentina Perez .

Editor’s note: Send your best high-resolution photos and behind-the-scenes stories about young local athletes, in both team and individual sports, to SportzBuzz, Jr. at info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Include all contact info, names, ages, grades and schools. Featured athletes must live in Buzz-circulation neighborhoods. Items will be published on a space-available basis.

by Prisha Shivani, age 17

Buzz Kidz

WAT HOME IN TWO PLACES Prisha Shivani, an incoming senior at Andover, a boarding school in Massachusetts and Buzz summer intern, reflects on how she made the decision to go to boarding school for high school, and how she’s found a second home. Pictured are Prisha and her father, Sachin Kumar, in front of her dorm at school.

Boarding school: A home away from home

hen I tell people in Houston that I go to a boarding school in Massachusetts, I’m often asked what I did to deserve such a punishment. In Texas, you don’t hear about many people going 2000 miles away for high school, but I made the decision based on the countless opportunities it would open up, and how academically challenging it is known to be. Besides this, all I knew was that I would need a winter jacket, a mattress topper, and a pair of shower shoes.

The week before leaving Houston for my freshman year at boarding school in Massachusetts was both stressful and surreal. Mounds of clothes sat on my room’s floor waiting to be packed, and a list of tasks to complete filled my notes app. I quickly realized when I arrived that, although I

had packed everything and checked all my boxes, nothing could prepare me for the reality of boarding school. The snow was unfamiliar, I was in a dorm of people I barely knew, and my classes were ten times harder.

Despite my first impression, I trusted the process and stayed. I built a routine, and the unfamiliar feeling began to thaw. I learned how to layer to stay warm, procrastination meant spending late nights in my friends' rooms, and the pace of the curriculum became familiar. People often ask me if I feel homesick, and I do. However, when you have two homes, homesickness is perpetual. Whether I’m in Houston or at Andover, I know there’s another place in the world that is also mine.

Now as a rising senior, I’m glad to say that I

love my school, and the experiences I’ve had there are the reason I developed into the person I am today. I’m grateful for the school around me, mostly the people I’ve met and moments I’ve had along the way.

Want to be a Buzz Kid? Email approximately 350 words, a high-resolution photo and caption to info@thebuzzmagazines.com.

Every weekday morning, enjoy your coffee + the buzz in your inbox. Our e-newsletter, Morning Buzz, features buzzworthy stories about neighbors every day, Monday-Friday.

PETS Neighborhood Tails

Lulu, age 5, Toy Poodle, Braeswood Place

Hi, I’m Lulu and I’m five years old. Many people confuse me for a puppy, although I’m really 35 years old (in dog years). I am a four-pound toy poodle and, because of my adorable size and looks, I have several dog sitters when my owners go on vacation. I love humans because they always give me attention. If you see me around don’t be afraid to pet me, because I’m very friendly – except when I am all comfy on the couch sleeping. Then I might show you how cranky I can get. In my defense, who likes getting woken up during a good nap? I am a very good and obedient dog, but my family says I’m very picky about food. I know what I like, and that is meat, of all kinds. And for some reason I hate almost all treats… unless they are meat. Thanks for getting to know me. I hope we meet in the neighborhood soon!

Got a cute critter? Email a picture of your pet with approximately 150 words to info@thebuzzmagazines.com or mail it to The Buzz Magazines, 5001 Bissonnet, Suite 100, Bellaire, Texas 77401.

Back-to-school worries?

A mom we recently spoke with was already concerned – and school hadn’t even started yet. “I’m just not sure he’s ready,” she said. “Last year was so rocky. I feel like he’s already behind before the year begins.”

Stories like this are common. With summer learning loss, pandemic setbacks, and rising school pressure, it’s easy for kids to fall behind. Most parents don’t realize it until the first test, a blank stare at homework, or a tearful “I hate school.”

That’s why, for a limited time, we’re offering a free academic evaluation. It shows exactly where your child stands in reading, writing, and math. You’ll walk away with a clear plan to help your child succeed – with specific areas you can focus on, even at home.

Even strong students can have hidden gaps – this evaluation makes sure nothing is missed early on.

West University Buzz readers can get this $250 evaluation for free. Call our priority line at 832.430.7339 and mention code WUP-AUG to schedule. This offer ends August 23 and spots are limited.

One parent told us, “I was hesitant about sending Annabelle twice a week – but she loves her tutor, and we’re already seeing improvements in her grades and confidence.”

Call now. It’s free. It’s fast. And it could prevent months of struggle. Huntington Learning Center, 2726 Bissonnet St., Suite 300, Houston, TX 77005, 832.430.7339, huntingtonhelps.com

Laura Sanz

Estate planning and probate updates

Family wealth and circumstances change often enough that the rule of thumb is to review your estate plan every three to five years. Major legislative changes can wreak havoc on the forms estate planners rely on, though, compelling everyone to revisit their plans sooner, not because family’s changed, but because the rules have. For most families, recent Texas legislation has limited impact on wills and trusts. Recent federal legislation practically eliminates the estate tax for most people and enhances the value of existing tax plans for those with $7 million or more.

Texas changes. The Texas legislature’s 89th regular session just ended, and on June 20 Governor Abbott signed a raft of bills that, with one exception, focus more on post mortem procedure than lifetime planning.

The exception: Historically, Texas did not limit the ownership of real estate by aliens. No visa, no problem. Texas now prohibits nonresident aliens from designated countries from owning Texas real estate purchased or acquired after September 1, 2025. U.S. citizens and lawful resident aliens from designated countries may still own real estate. Any alien, lawful or not, resident or not, may own personal property here, e.g., a bank or investment account. Designated countries include China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The governor may designate additional countries. Estate administration now seems mandatory to liquidate real estate that would otherwise pass to an ineligible alien under a will, trust, or the laws of intestacy.

A special session was called, to begin July 21. The agenda includes apparently controversial protections against title theft and deed fraud. There may yet be a requirement of multiple witnesses to deeds and affidavits of

heirship. We may have to wait until September to find out.

Federal changes. The so-called double exemption that was to sunset December 31, 2025, has been replaced with a permanent $15 million estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax exemption, indexed for inflation. These are welcome developments, enabling wealthier taxpayers to refocus planning from their money to their family.

A married couple can now give or leave a lifetime total of $30 million tax-free to children, grandchildren, or strangers. The existing $10 million exemption had been scheduled to reset to $5 million (around $7 million after an inflation adjustment) on January 1, 2026. Because these changes are permanent, taxpayers with as little as $7 million benefit. Older couples with $14 million to $30 million may now tear up their gifting plans, knowing they can leave their estates tax-free without the expense and complexity of a lifetime gift. Better yet, by holding those assets until death, eligible assets will receive a new basis, wiping out unrealized gain.

We write wills and go to probate court. Foreign nationals and international families welcome.

Russell W. Hall, Bellaire Probate, Attorneys at Law, 6750 West Loop S. Ste. 920, Bellaire, Texas 77401, 713.662.3853, bellaireprobate.com/blog

. by Angie Frederickson, staff writer

Buzz About Town

A Costco birthday surprise

What began as a typical Saturday Costco run quickly turned into the ultimate surprise 40th birthday party. Lawrence Winsor (pictured), an undeniable Costco superfan, had no idea that while roaming the aisles for bulk-quantity goods he would “bump into” so many friends. His wife, Erica, had planned the perfect surprise to celebrate his milestone birthday with friends and family lurking among grocery items, waiting to yell, “Surprise!” After the birthday boy figured it out, everyone gathered in the food court for some of Lawrence’s favorites including pizza, hot dogs, and cake. Costco employees joined the fun, printing a special birthday name tag for the guest of honor and handing out free insulated bags to party guests. It was an unexpected and unforgettable celebration!

Boston with two new hips

Carrie Bradshaw (pictured, on right) became the first double-hip replacement patient to complete the Boston Marathon. A longtime runner, Carrie was diagnosed with bilateral congenital hip dysplasia at age 40 and feared her running

days were over (read more in The Buzz Magazines’ Feb. 2024 story Beating the Odds: From recovery to marathon training by Pooja Salhotra). Carrie saw several surgeons after her diagnosis who told her she could no longer run. Fortunately, Dr. Gregory Stocks (pictured, on left) supported her desire to undergo double-hip

replacement and get back to running. To celebrate her incredible endeavor, Carrie had a full cheering squad in Boston. Her husband Ben Bradshaw, children Theo and Poppy, mother Melinda Tosoni, aunt and uncle Debby and Dan Tosoni, and lifelong friend Ann Nogast with her husband Dave and son Jake were on the sidelines for the big race. Special guest Dr. Stocks even made the trip to Boston. “It was a huge victory for both of us, so I gifted him my race bib to thank him for believing in me,” said Carrie.

A feast fit for the Symphony

Ann and Jonathan Ayre (pictured) attended A Bacchanal Feast, the Houston Symphony Wine

Dinner and Collector’s Auction, at Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. Chaired by Elia and Michael Gabbanelli with collector’s auction chair Jack Matzer, the sold-out event raised more than $900,000 for Houston Symphony’s education and community engagement initiatives. More than 365 guests enjoyed champagne, wine, and spirits while exploring the silent auction in the ballroom decorated with nods to an ancient Roman castle, featuring florals in shades of red, coral, and pink, and Roman statues draped in greenery. Potente’s Chef Danny Trace prepared a five-course meal with wine pairings presented by Michelin Star Master Sommelier Steven McDonald.

Taking on the world

Whiz kids James Rigamer, Colin Baker, Whit Hendricks, Mose Campbell, and Ben Rhodes (pictured, from left) represented Presbyterian School at the Odyssey of the Mind (OM) World Finals at Michigan State University. Coached by Michael Rhodes and Maggie Campbell, the fifth-grade team placed sixth on the global stage among thousands of teams from around the world. The seventh-grade team also competed with a strong finish in the world finals. Seventh graders Reece Abney, Emma Harkey, Olivia Hoff, Colin Jarrell, Arya Sabhnani, Amelia Stowers, and Lila Valenstein, coached by Michelle Jarrell and Stephany Lin-Abney, traveled to Michigan with the fifth graders. Presbyterian School is the only Houston private school to support an OM

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Priscilla Dickson

Elizabeth Naggar Photography

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program for lower and middle school students, and it is one of the school’s most popular extracurricular activities. Odyssey of the Mind is a global program where teams of students showcase their creative problem-solving skills. “It’s the Olympics for kids who think differently and can solve problems on

their feet,” says Presbyterian School’s OM Coordinator Gail Kirkconnell

Farewell to Mark Twain Elementary

The Mark Twain Elementary School Class of 2025 (pictured) wrapped up the 2024-2025 school year with a festive and splashy pool

party at Willow Pool. Outgoing fifth graders marked their countdown to graduation with a sunny afternoon of fun and cool treats on the lawn. A highlight of the pool party was a special visit from Twain’s very own Principal Michele Rawson. It was a great opportunity to celebrate with classmates and friends and get ready to kick off the new school year as middle schoolers.

Hats off to style

Marilyn McDowell, Debbie Berner, and Kim Vidor (pictured, from left) donned festive hats for the Houston Junior Forum (HJF) style show. Guests arrived in colorful attire and hats to watch models walk the runway in fashions by Unique Boutique by Jeanette. Mistress of ceremonies Melva Meronek, dressed in pink and pearls with a feathered, rose-covered

(continued on page 52)

hat, led the event that was planned by committee chair Susan Fisher and committee members Karen Darnell, Karen Conway, Julia Heller, and Lisa Laumbach. Fashionable models included Debbie Berner, Sharon Cook, Karen Darnell, Gale Evans, Susan Fisher, Julia Heller, Krista Parker, Joyce Pelton, Cindi Salas, and Sally Schwarze.

Cheers to The Women’s Fund

Jim and Paulina McGrath and Amy and Rob Pierce (pictured, from left) attended the 10th annual Wine Dinner that raised $485,000 for The Women’s Fund, a nonprofit that works with Houston women and girls to provide resources to help them advocate for their own health. Chaired by Vanessa and Chuck Ames, it was a record-breaking evening with more than 250 wine and food enthusiasts at The Astorian. Guests were treated to a reception with wine and culinary pairings, a champagne wall, and silent and live auctions. Honorees for the evening were Paulina and Jim McGrath who received the Visionary Spirit Award, Gina Gaston Elie who received the Resilient Heart

Award, and Chris Shepherd and Lindsey Brown who received the Champions of Community Award.

Champions for students

Beverly and Jim Postl (pictured) were among the crowd at the second annual Champions of Hope gala benefiting The Holdsworth Center. Held at River Oaks Country Club, the evening benefited the Center’s efforts to strengthen Texas public schools through leadership programs for teachers, principals, and superintendents. Donald Evans, former US Secretary of Commerce, was recognized for his efforts to improve education in the state through the Permian Strategic Partnership. In addition, six alumni of Holdsworth Center programming were named Champions of Hope: Ashley Chohlis, Denise De Loera, Elizabeth Minto-

Bauer, Dr. Bobby Ott, Dr. Usamah Rodgers, and Cynthia Sullivan. The Holdsworth Center was founded in 2017 by H-E-B chairman Charles Butt and has worked with more than 1,500 educators across the state.

Mahjong for a cure

Richard and Alexandra Bruskoff (pictured) celebrated at the Mahjong for a Cure event benefiting Breakthrough T1D. The sold-out, ’90ssupermodel-inspired evening was filled with guests donning animal prints, sequins, and sparkles at Park House Houston. Hosted by Alexandra Bruskoff, Mahjong for a Cure raised more than $225,000 for research aimed at finding a cure for type 1 diabetes. Players battled it out at mahjong tables led by Becky Livingstone (aka Lady Mahj) and her team, enjoyed champagne and signature Mahj Margaritas, and hit the dance floor with DJ Curtis.

Lunch with Tom Selleck

Gayla Gardner, Trina Silva, and Leisa Holland-Nelson Bowman (pictured, from left) attended the author/speaker announcement for the upcoming Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation’s 10th annual Power of Literacy luncheon. The Foundation revealed that bestselling author and Hollywood legend Tom Selleck will be the featured speaker at the event on Oct. 24 at The Post Oak Hotel. Hosted by the Foundation’s Ladies for Literacy Guild and chaired by Betty Hrncir and Sidney Faust, the annual luncheon will support childhood and community-based literacy programs in Houston. Selleck will discuss his 2024 memoir, You Never Know, that details his rise to fame and friendships with Hollywood A-listers. For more information about tickets and table sponsorships, visit barbarabushhouston.org/luncheon.

Be seen in Buzz About Town. Send your high-res photos and community news to info@thebuzzmagazines.com. Items are published on a space-available basis. Also share your upcoming-event listings on thebuzzmagazines.com.

Johnny Than

Priscilla Dickson

Barbara Bush Literacy Foundation

Priscilla Dickson

. by Andria Dilling, staff writer

Back Porch Talking Through Tears: Leaning

As I write, we are days into an unimaginable week in Texas. For as many hurricanes and tropical storms as we have seen in Houston, the lightning-fast flooding of the Guadalupe River on July 4 has perhaps been the most disturbing.

It was not only the swiftness with which the flood took over communities and campgrounds, it was the surprise of it. We all have been shaken, heartbroken by the loss of 27 little girls and counselors at Camp Mystic, a place generations of women and girls considered a safe haven. Right now, it is impossible to think beyond the precious lost lives in the flood – more than 120 reported so far, as of this writing – and the families who loved them. They were our children, our grandchildren, our friends, our friends-offriends. Where do we go from here?

Dr. John Price, who, with his wife Leila-Scott, founded The Center for Healing Arts & Sciences, says it is in our connectedness that we will find healing. “We need to do this together, in community,” says John, who is a psychotherapist and president of The Jung Center’s board of trustees. John and Leila-Scott, who respectively attended Camp Longhorn and Camp Mystic, picked up their 9-year-old daughter from her first summer at Mystic a week before the floods.

Communities are of course coming together to support the families most deeply touched by those losses. Still, thousands more are empathizing from afar, hearing accounts of the tragedy that has changed so many lives, watching videos that are traumatizing to see, and impossible to forget. Even if you weren’t directly affected, you were affected.

“The pain is of course different for somebody who lost a child and somebody whose friend lost a child, and somebody who is witnessing the loss,” John says. “But the differences don’t mean we diminish the pain.

“We want to put it in a hierarchy, but grief is grief. You don’t have to lose someone close, you don’t have to lose your home to feel loss. Everybody is experiencing this. We absorb the pain of others. We are grieving for ourselves, and we are grieving for others.”

John likens the experience to having a night-

into community

mare: “My body reacts as if the dream is real. Our systems have the capacity to be in the experience, and we behave as if we were in the experience, to feel what others feel.”

That we are so deeply affected by others’ pain demonstrates, John says, how deeply connected we all are. How do we move forward?

“Often we seek out whatever can make us numb out and check out. We prioritize the task, the to-do list, the status, making money,” John says. “But you have to have awareness for what’s happening inside of you. You can’t say I’m not directly affected and expect to feel fine.”

COMING TOGETHER In times of tragedy, we grieve for ourselves, and we grieve for others, together.

Instead, he says, we need to invest in connection.

“We need to engage in simple rituals of togetherness,” he says. “Call people you love. Be together. Share silence. We think we need to do something, but we just need to be together. It’s the sacred power of sitting with somebody. In the psychological world we call that ‘witnessing the experience,’ not trying to tie it up with a bow. Not using platitudes. Just being honest and saying I don’t know how to do this.

“When you invest in relationships, you know where to fall. Something magical happens when you lean on people, and let them lean upon you. It’s not comfortable, but it’s absolutely necessary. Many would say divine. I certainly would.”

Rooted in busy-ness, our culture, John says, lacks the “scaffolding” to help us process emotions. “In other cultures,” he says, “there is an underworld. But our culture has projected the underworld into the afterlife. There is no mythological orientation to help us understand where we are.” That, he says, is in a world where what we knew to be safe, no longer feels safe.

John references his mentor, the author and Franciscan priest Richard Rohr: “He says that in the absence of a mythology, we pathologize. We pathologize the process to try to fix things. But the psyche is self-healing, even though it might take a lifetime. As sad as it is, nobody gets out of this experience without grieving deeply.”

Still, John says, we can thrive. “We fold the experience into our lives. It deepens the experience of the ways we love, how we hold others, how we show up for others, how we think of the mysteries of our existence. Our existence broadens. We are transformed.”

In the transformation, life goes on. We are thankful for that, and we dread it. We will heal, but we will not forget. Until then, as John says, “We talk through tears.”

John Price and Richard Rohr will be in conversation at The Jung Center on September 17. Additionally, The Center for Healing Arts & Sciences offers a range of support groups. Go to junghouston.org and thecenterforhas.com for more information.