I always believed I could do absolutely anything I wanted to do, as long as I put my mind to it. But I never really put my mind on much as a young girl.
I was born and raised in Silverado, Texas of the United States of America. It's a nice country, a nice state and a nice city. I don't really have anywhere else in particular that I'd rather live. Texas is my home, and I wasn't planning on abandoning it.
When I was very young, I was introduced to the concept of football. Living in Texas, it was like the only thing. My dad has been a huge fan since before my existence. Before him and my mom got married, there was no me, and nobody they could share together. Then they got married and had a little girl they called Isabella Dawson. I was born in a hospital here in Texas. No place I'd rather be, to be honest. It was perfect. 😊
Growing up, my dad got me into football. We lived in Texas, but neither Houston or Dallas, so my dad ultimately had two teams to choose from. And somewhere along the way, he chose Dallas. The Dallas Cowboys football team of the National Football League. Like I said, he's been a fan since before me and my existence on this earth.
My dad got me hooked up on football, it was like our own secret language, as my mom put it. Football brought my dad and I super close together. His love of football and the Dallas Cowboys became mine, something we shared. It gave us this bond that neither of us would ever have with anyone else. It was magical. ✨
We watched every Cowboys game together wearing our Cowboys jerseys. We made it our tradition, that every time the Cowboys were losing, we'd flip our jerseys inside out. It was our thing. Watching Tony Romo, the starting quarterback, made me an idol. Tony Romo #9, QB for the Dallas Cowboys became my personal role model and idol. It was my dream to play QB just like Tony! I wanted to be just like him and I had a family that supported me like crazy. My mom wasn't and isn't much of a footballer, but she doesn't need to be, because she's super supportive anyway.
My dad and I always played football together in our backyard. It wasn't a very big backyard and it wasn't in anyway professional, but it was beautiful. We threw the football back and fourth and he yelled "touchdown!" every time I threw the ball back to him. He called me his little quarterback. We stayed out late and just played football together and even when it was late, my mom suggested we head on inside, but I could always get my dad to stay out 5 more minutes. Every time.
My family was strong, inseparable and stuck together. My dad and I being footballers like crazy and my mom being our super peppy cheerleader! It was perfect. Nothing could ruin that. But it did..
My dad passed away shortly after I thought as a little girl, that I had everything figured out. But I didn't even know what had just hit me. My family was just torn down with one strike, that's all it took to tear apart the inseparable family I thought we were. It crushed me like a boulder to a bug. I was the broken, devastated bug, when that boulder came out of absolutely nowhere.
I cried constantly and I thought my life was finished. But I always had my two best friends I met in kindergarten, Sophie De La Rosa and Pepper Silverstein. I was the first girl to talk to Sophie in kindergarten and I held Pepper's hand down the slide when she was afraid. I brought them together and the three of us became the best of friends. They helped me through my devastating loss. My mom did too, she said we always had to stick together from there on out. And we did.
Even though my dad was gone, my love of football didn't die with him. I vowed to forever hold the Dallas Cowboys in my heart and promised to be a fan forever and support them like crazy. For my dad. ❤️
In the 6th grade, I started school at an all new school, Silverado West. My love of football only grew stronger, no matter how hard life felt, I could always look to football to cheer me up. My new school, Pepper and Sophie transferred to as well, being too old for our elementary school now. Most from my elementary school transferred to Silverado West. When I found out that this school had its very own competitive football team, I was shocked and exited out of my mind. I was so happy that I could find another team to love and support, yet right here in Silverado.
