Brave Enough To Be Bliss
respond and could just delete it if she already knew everything, but that I wanted to make sure she had all the information we did. I told her how important she was to Kylee and how important it was for Kylee to receive as much encouragement from as many loved ones as possible. I continued to send the updates and then after a while said something like, “If you are already receiving all of this information and want me to stop, please don’t hesitate to let me know as I do n’t want to be bothering you in any wa y.” She responded and said to please keep the information coming and she appreciated it. While I remember being very uncomfortable sending those emails not knowing if she hated me or what was going through her mind when she’d see my name, but this is a goo d example of how communicating from a purely loving place rarely goes wrong and as you’ll learn later, it ends up opening the door to completely new relationships. “Always remember, the right person will stick with you no matter what. Even during really hard times, they won’t get tired of you. They’ll stay by your side, offering support and love, even when things are tough. True love means staying dedicated and being a true friend, even when life gets tricky or challenging.” R.M. Drake Kylee’s desire to share her story to protect other athletes was a huge turning point and I appreciate all the organizations that stepped up to support her efforts. I will forever be grateful to them. It gave her hope and strength and purpose. It was a lot of work to create a foundation, raise the money, organize a trail run, all things neither of us had ever done. Fortunately, though, some of my professional background came in handy for the promotion of it, but overall, it was just dig in and learn as you go.
In 2013, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell invited Kylee to attend a youth football safety clinic for moms at the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility. In 2014, Kylee received the Kansas City Sports Commission & Foundation Youth Sports Girl Award, which is an honor presented to a girl (under 18 years of age) within the Kansas City area who demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities, setting and achieving goals, and has made a specific impact on the community.
She was also selected to serve as one of four national Protecting Athletes and Sports Safety (PASS) Student Ambassadors. PASS was an innovative two-year initiative launched by the National Council on Youth Sports Safety, Inc. (NCYSS). The first of its kind, PASS sought to integrate a culture of prevention and recommend enhanced practices to reduce the risk of brain injury, specifically concussions, among athletes at the pre collegiate level. Kylee participated in a Community Huddle in Atlanta, Georgia in 2014.
“Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” Gever Tulley As unfortunate as PCS was for Kylee, she certainly made the best out of it for others and also gained great experience being interviewed for live and recorded
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