She was here, alone, this past Thursday morning.
As we had done for several weeks, we talked with her about her plans to adopt two boys. She had discovered there were several thousand children in Houston who needed homes. Her daughter, Tracy had finished school and was on her own. Tristan was scheduled to graduate from high school this coming Friday, so Alice felt she would have the room to care for additional children. She wanted two boys about 7 or 8 years old, as they were the ones most difficult to place by adoption agencies. One could not help but be overwhelmed by the enorimity of her plans, and there is no doubt she would have made them happen.
Alice and her family had gone through all of the extensive interviews, classes, and inspections to become qualified to adopt. Tristan's school even wrote letters in support of the adoption, according to Alice. The agency was supposed to begin looking for candidates next week. Alice was very excited about that, and when she left our home Thursday, was in a very happy mood. She had a really big heart; we will miss that most of all.
Alice loved her children very much, and was very proud of them. She just glowed when she talked about Tristan's graduation. It was to be held in the GRBrown Convention Center. Alice had rented a room in a nearby hotel for all of her family and friends who would attend.
Alice worked for a couple of famous people. Calvin Murphy was perhaps the first. When his name hit the news recently, Alice told us she had been helping him for over ten years. She knew the children who were accusing Mr. Murphy of things, and did not think the charges had any merit. She anticipated being called to testify, if the case went to trial, and was willing to do so.
Apparently, Mr. Murphy had introduced her to some of the other people she helped. One of those was Charles Barkley. When our son was younger, she even took a basketball to Mr. Barkley and asked him to autograph it for our son. Mr. Barkley was kind enough to do so. Not just from that act, but in several anecdotes, Alice showed us that Mr. Barkley had a much more compassionate heart than he allowed the media to see. Since his retirement, some of that has begun to become visible.
The above article reported that Alice worked for Arnetta Yardbourgh, who was Sacquille O'Neil's girlfriend. We did not know her name, but did know she was another person Alice helped. She was very close to them and very protective of their privacy.
It would have been good if even more people could have known Alice. Her compassion and strength of character made it impossible for anyone who knew her to harbor any bigotry or negative stereotypes. Her life proved those to be false.
Wow, thanks for giving us such positive memories of this lady who has met such an unfortunate end.
May God rest her soul.
For the son, I don't know what to say.
Sorry for the loss of your friend. This is a horrible event.