A year later and this is still one of my favorite stories we’ve ever published. Original publish date 5-22-22
The Marshall Academy state championship win on Saturday means more 8 months after tragedy.
“The team stormed the field, spraying sparkling cider and confetti from cannons all over the place, the wind kicking up at that moment to send dirt swirling around. Every emotion you could name was playing out on that field at that moment, but the biggest was joy. A joy so big and powerful that had some measure of healing in it, too.
These boys wanted this win. They wanted it for themselves and for the school, yes. But they also wanted it for a little girl with pigtails and a scrunched up nose and sticky hands who called them stinky and demanded piggy-back rides to the field house. You can’t tell me she wasn’t there with us that night. In the apple cider bubbles and the confetti and the noise and the wind and the swirling dirt, she was there. They did it, and they did it Janie Strong.”
https://t.co/OItaV6CWnv
The Marshall Academy state championship win on Saturday means more 8 months after tragedy.
“In the apple cider bubbles and the confetti and the noise and the wind and the swirling dirt, she was there. They did it, and they did it Janie Strong.”
https://t.co/DKHfp75DRO