Mem'ries Sweet: Gratitude For And With Abby Faber

The inspiring story of Abby Faber is a testament to generosity, friendship, kindness, and the innocence of collegiate athletics

A week ago I had never heard of Abby Faber.  

Now I've never been prouder to be a Frog. 

The KillerFrog podcast invited her as a distinguished guest on their program.  As it is my job to summarize the podcasts, I was taken with the soft-spoken, shy, articulate adolescent who, in the company of her father (Steve Faber), spoke of how excited she was for her family pie.  

Then, on social media, pictures revolved around the colorful carousel of the online world, including her, in a wheelchair, facing TCU star quarterback, Trevone Boykin, who kneels before her, a plastic visor shielding his eyes, his hands placed strategically on either wheel as if he might carry her from her overworked body and into the field, where she may dance from end zone to end zone.  

Since then I have been putting together, piece by piece, the painful puzzle of Abby's relationship with TCU, and it is a happy ending, I'm happier to say.  

As a writer I am inclined to distrust happy endings, but sometimes life has a way of making the skeptic doubtful of his skepticism, the cynic his cynicism. 

Abby Faber's introduction to Frogdom was as an honorary captain for Iowa State's Oct. 17, 2015 game against TCU.  Faber, diagnosed with cerebral palsy before her third birthday, was brought to the field to witness the opening coin toss, when Boykin kneeled before her in the image that captured the hearts of college football fans across the country, and more.  The KillerFrogs Fan Forum, with an initial goal of $1,000, managed to raise over $30,000, eliciting the following note from Abby's father, Steve:  

" . . . our family is completely blown away by all of this.  Who would have thought that an innocent and honest act of kindness would come to all of this.  This has drastically changed our lives and yes we love those Frogs.  Please take home the National Championship and rest assured Mr. Boykin has six more fans than he had a few days ago.  Once again we thank all of you from the bottom of our hearts."  

Abby is now fourteen and in the eighth grade.  During the course of her interview with Sean Foushee and Ryann Zeller, Mr. Faber went into some detail as to what life was like for her, suffering from palsy, and how much things have improved.  Surgeries were constant.  When she was five, she endured a rhizotomy, which entailed that surgeons "checked all the nerves in her back, and if the nerve reacted normal, they left it alone, if it reacted abnormal, they cut that nerve.  And I think they went through and cut about a third of the nerves and that took care of a lot of the tightness in her legs."  This did not go without its own complications.  "The tightness of the muscles twisted her bones, tightened her bones, and both her legs right below her hips.  They cut the bones in both of those legs, rotated those out, and put pins and plates back in.  Then she's had a couple surgeries on both legs and they would re-attach (a muscle) to a different spot to allow her feet to move properly.  Be thankful your kids don't have to deal with that stuff."  

"It was painful," Abby added. 

"After that surgery on her legs, it was brutal because that night, we'd have to pick her up to put her on the toilet.  She had casts on both legs and a bar between her legs so her legs wouldn't move.  And every time we had to move her, her legs would spasm.  And Abby doesn't cry.  And she was screaming in pain that night.  It was horrible.  I was just sitting there getting mad, because there's nothing you can do.  And she would even ask for the medicine from the IV because she knew the good stuff."

So, having taken all that in, one is more than a little relieved to hear her say, when asked how is her health, in a mellifluous voice that flies through a phrase, to pause, and rise in another fleeting inflection, "Really good, actually.  I actually had a doctor's appointment . . . one month ago?  Two months ago . . . now?  And no surgery."    

"We should be out of the woods on that," Mr. Faber says.  

Now, she says she enjoys eighth grade, but it is going by very quickly (Abby, if you read this, get ready, it's only going to go faster).  She is a good student and a huge TCU Horned Frog baseball fan.  As for her favorite thing about Thanksgiving, it is "the pie."    

Eat all the pie you like, Dear Abby.  For life is nothing but a big, sweet, round pie, spiced with ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom. 

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