When my daughter Laurie was in junior high, I knew that she was not fast enough to be a sprinter, but I thought that she had enough speed to become a pretty good hurdler. Because of her small stature, it was very difficult for her to three step in between the hurdles. She had to learn the four-step technique.

One of the fondest memories that I have of Laurie and me was during her freshman year at West Monroe High School. She had qualified for the regional meet and the meet was held in Lake Charles. When it came time for Laurie's race, I watched the runners get into their blocks. I was up in the stadium near the finish line so I could not see the starting line very well.

My hands were shaking so badly when I was trying to film the race that it looked as if an earth quake was taking place during filming. Yes. Dad was nervous. There are so many things that you have to get right when you are running the hurdles. It is a little bit like playing the piano. When you make a mistake, everyone knows it. When you hit a hurdle, everyone knows it.

I saw the smoke come from the starter's gun. Then I saw another puff of smoke. Someone had jumped. I noticed that Laurie was already getting back into her blocks, so it could not have been Laurie who jumped. Next I noticed the starter was standing in Laurie's lane. Then I saw her walk off the tracks. She was the runner who had jumped.

My heart ached for her. It was a big meet for a freshman. I went down to meet her. I saw those big tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. Now when a daddy sees tears falling from his daughter's eyes, his heart aches along with hers. I hugged her neck and asked her what had happened.

She told me that when she was in the starting position with her hips up ready to go that she began to lose her balance. To keep from falling, she moved her hand slightly to steady herself. The starter told her that the movement caused her to have a false start. She said she thanked him for telling her and she got back into her blocks. He then walked over to tell her that she was disqualified. Laurie had no clue that she was eliminated because in all of her previous meets they were allowed two false starts before a runner was disqualified.

What an experience. I rode four hours to see my daughter false start. I would have ridden twelve hours to watch my daughter false start. Her race was over in a millisecond. To try to lighten her disappointment, I told her that it was the fastest race that I had ever seen.

Her track coach allowed her to ride home with me. We spent the next four hours having the time of our lives all the way back to West Monroe.

This time with my daughter was an occasion that we will never forget. We were together, just us two, father and daughter, sharing stories and laughing about some of life's experiences. I have never been so proud of a false start in all my life. That was only yesterday, and now she is twenty-seven years old.

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