On Saturday November 8, we went to the Baytown Special Rodeo. This year was postponed from the usual September date because of Hurricane IKE, which turned out to be a good thing, the day was perfect, not to hot and the crowd was minimal making getting around and having more fun easier for us. The rodeo had everything you could imagine to make everyone happy. There was a clown that blew bubbles for Courtney and Kendall, lots of games for Courtney and Kendall to play, face painting, food, a horse for Kendall to ride and a barrel ride too. We met a group of people with a wheelchair accessible covered wagon, www.horseshoesfromtheheart.org they all were so nice and we all loved being able to ride in the wagon together with Courtney. The best part of the rodeo was the wonderful ELVIS! His opening number, he serenaded Courtney and gave her a pink scarf! Elvis danced with all the children, Candace was holding Courtney's hands and letting her "dance" to the music too, which thrilled her. I had to call my mom in Alabama during the performance to let her hear Elvis for herself. It's a known fact that my mother has loved Elvis for as long as I can remember. I can remember dancing in our living room with my mom and brother to all the KING'S fast songs, like "Hound dog" and "Blue suede shoes" and so many others. As I got older, fearing teasing from my friends, I gave up listening to ELVIS and started listening to the new music from my era. In my late teens I moved to Texas, where my mom lived and met and married my husband Manuel, in 1973. We got tickets to take my mom to see ELVIS at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It was so exciting, we were sitting right above the KING'S trailer he was in waiting to come out to perform. I have been back out to the ASTRODOME to the livestock show but never to see a performer at the rodeo again. People laugh when I tell them that the last time I went to the rodeo, I went to see ELVIS!. As ELVIS left the stage, a DJ took over, we looked at Courtney, she was looking in the direction where ELVIS was and she started to cry wanting him to return. We took her over to meet ELVIS in person, by then she had started to calm down. We all started to dance to the songs the DJ was playing, we did the hokey pokey, YMCA and so many other songs. Courtney's first speech therapist Donna Denny, had one of her kids in his wheelchair and I had Courtney, we were running all around the dancers and having so much fun. Donna is so much fun to be with, I love it when we can get together but she has so much energy I can barely keep up with her. We can't wait until next year to see ELVIS again, Courtney and I have been listening to some ELVIS songs and as I hold Courtney's hands while we "dance", I remember seeing Courtney and Candace "dancing" with ELVIS, he knelt beside Courtney and held her hands then placed the pink scarf around her. Yep, the KING is alive, not only in my mom's memories but also in my memories and now in Courtney's too.