Lots of women turn to seminars, books and TV to look for inspiration from other females. From now on, I'll just be turning to 11-year-old Tacey Raulerson.
Tacey is just in fifth grade, but she's already fought a grueling battle with cancer. At 7 months of age, she was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma. She had her left eye removed at 9 months, and then her right eye removed in 2006. Her young life has already been filled with blindness, multiple rounds of chemotherapy and an adjustment that most of us grownups would have difficulty making. Here's an early video of Tacey that gives you an idea of how well this spectacular child handled her illness:
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I met Tacey while traveling with the girls to attend a rodeo queen contest in Austin. When they announced my 8-year-old daughter's title, Tacey's mom Tammy came up to meet us because she is from our small country town.
We spent most of the day hanging out with Tacey and her parents Tammy and Michael. My 16-year-old niece and 8-year-old daughter – both rodeo royalty, too – were awestruck by Tacey's positive attitude and spirit. She carries the title of Wrangler's Miss Tough Enough to Wear Pink, a rodeo queen title that allows her to travel the country as an ambassador for rodeo and to raise cancer awareness. Here's the video of the day she was crowned Miss Tough Enough to Wear Pink.
Most amazing, is the fact that Tacey rides a horse even though she is blind. Her horse, named Tuff Enough, carries her into crowded arenas all over the states. She's met all sorts of rodeo celebrities. I asked her who the coolest person was she ever met and she rattled off names of rodeo stars. Only later did I find out she had also met Miley Cyrus.
During our afternoon with Tacey, the girls walked the fairgrounds, taking photos with fans (rodeo queens are like celebs at a rodeo), eating fair food (like Pizza on a Stick) and shopping (Tacey likes to touch some of the exquisite rodeo queen outfits and then predict – with accuracy – which designer made them.)
"She is so brave," whispered my 8-year-old daughter, after meeting Tacey. Tacey's parents are also pretty remarkable, ensuring that their daughter gets to live life to the fullest and giving her the opportunities to not only travel the U.S. with her Miss Tough Enough to Wear Pink title, but to do all the sorts of things all normal 11-year-old girls get to do.
During our afternoon wandering the fairgrounds with Tacey, we made our way over to the mechanical bull. There was a large mechanical bull and smaller one for kids. At 11, I guess the operator thought Tacey was too tall for the smaller one that she had wanted to ride, so he said she would have to ride the full-size bull. Without hesitation, she opted for the big one. And rode it without falling off.
It's that type of sheer guts that impresses me the most about Tacey. Sure, she's famous and beautiful and accomplished. But most of all, she embodies the best of womanhood, even at 11: she gracefully handles life's obstacles and isn't defined – or limited – by what others might consider a handicap. If that's not inspirational, then I don't know what is.