HONORING SAHARA ALDRIDGE

Sahara "Hoops" Aldridge
1994-2007

At Mississippi Valley Therapeutic Horsemanship

A great friend to Sahara & a truly fine person:
Rick Springfield!
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Good Evening, Everyone. I began writing this post this morning and simply ran out of time. So please forgive my tardiness. Thursday, November 5th was the second anniversary of the passing of Sahara Aldridge. Those of you who have been following my Blogsite over the years recall this remarkable little girl who touched the hearts of thousands--and mine--in a way that is difficult to explain. Although I'm a little late with this post by traditional standards, I still feel the need to Honor her with a mention because meeting Sahara was one of the greatest gifts of my life and I was very fortunate. Rick Springfield's "Concert for Sahara" took place on December 8, 2006 at the Show Me Center in her home town of Cape Girardeau, Missouri. This incredible musician had known Sahara and her parents Shannon and Amy from the time Sahara was 7 years-old. She was diagnosed in July, 2006 with a brain tumor and she kicked its ass.

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When I awoke this morning, I had no idea what I would write. The Good Lord took care of that and there was no deliberating. On November 5, 2007 we lost this sweet angel who for 13 years on this earth was really the personification of everything that is good and true and right and positive about our world. They say The Lord works in mysterious ways. Well, that's true. Some people understand this and others miss it. Again, I was very fortunate because I did understand.

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In my own isolated corner of the world, I was wrapping up work rebuilding my Mom's home in the years following my father's death and a layoff from ABC News in the Southwest. I spent a year at an NBC television affiliate in Ohio before freelancing in cable television and becoming very busy employing myself in a number of adventures in television and radio. On October 16, 2006 I entered negotiations with my agent to be a field reporter in New York for a national weekend news magazine. The negotiations ended unsuccessfully at 10:35 PM on November 3, 2006. I felt nothing for some strange reason. I wasn't upset. I was a little disappointed but nothing on the magnitude of what anyone would expect. I have no idea why even tonight looking back. I just didn't care as much as I thought I would and felt more focused about carving out a space of sanity for myself away from the news business. I knew a chapter in my life had come to an end, and perhaps in hindsight, that consumed more of my attention than worrying about why a group of very good people and myself in New York just couldn't come to terms on my gig. So, before calling it a night, I turned on CNN Headline News. CNN was still using their scrolling ticker along the bottom of the television screen with the latest news. Suddenly, I read that Rick Springfield had announced a major concert fundraiser for a 12-year old girl battling brain cancer in Missouri. He was donating his performance fee. The following morning, I spent the next 13 hours on a rented computer in a print shop learning everything I could about this little girl who loved Basketball, Cats, Shopping, Cheesecake and Rick Springfield concerts. At one point, a store manager approached me at the end of his shift to see if everything was alright and I told him about Sahara's situation. This young man was into his third year of medical school before changing his mind and switching his focus to earning an MBA degree. From listening to him, I learned that he had spent most of his junior high and high school years taking classes from hospital rooms after many reconstructive plastic surgeries to his face to correct a severe birth defect. From this life experience, he said that he related to Sahara and that he would approach his company to underwrite my computer rental fees, faxing and printing services. (In all, Fed Ex Kinko's covered $4,000 of my fees over the next 18 days).

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During my conversation with the manager, I mentioned that I wanted to assemble a grass roots bus trip from Cincinnati, Ohio to Cape Girardeau, Missouri and the long story-short was that I was given the gift of meeting Sahara and her family. The concert was an incredible experience and an act of love from Rick's involvement as the performing artist, to approximately 3,000 of us who either flew or drove to Missouri for the show to celebrate Sahara's shining spirit of fun and laughter. Many loving friendships were made as a result of this concert that drew so many of us together.

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One of many newspaper articles written about Sahara put it this way:

"Sahara loved her family, friends, basketball, her school, her teachers, her coaches, her doctors and nurses, her beloved cats and dogs, Semo, Cleo, Puddy, Stormbringer and LuLu, the High Hill Hecklers, the Lady Redhawks, the Tennessee Titans, the Lady Vols and the St. Louis Cardinals.

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"She also loved going to Rick Springfield concerts and rocking out with the band. She loved traveling, loud music, pizza and hanging out with her best girlfriends. If one word could sum up Sahara, it must be LOVE".

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One place that was very important to Sahara was the Mississippi Valley Therapeutic Horsemanship Program where she rode a horse named "Candy". The horses name today is "Sahara's Candy". A year after Sahara's passing, Rick Springfield returned to The Cape to play an acoustic concert benefiting MVTH. In a season where we are about to give Thanks for all that we have in our lives, it just feels right to mention the following. If you'd like to make a contribution in honor of Sahara here's where you can do that:

Mississippi Valley Therapeutic Horsemanship
P.O. Box 154
Jackson, Missouri 63755

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Until the world stops turning
Until the wind doesn’t blow
Until the sun stops shining
Until the river doesn’t flow
Until my heart stops beating
Forevermore
The legend lives on
Remember the name
Sahara “Hoops”, 21
With much love,
Amy and Shannon
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Thanksgiving: For Shannon, Amy and Sahara Alridge.