Aggie Bonfire Tragedy...Ten Years Later

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This Longhorn is remembering ten years ago tonight (early tomorrow morning) that the phone rang and it was Melissa, our Aggie, calling Tom and me to tell us that the bonfire had fallen and she was alright. She hadn't been working on it that night, but we knew she'd been the night before. She didn't want us to wake up and learn about it.

She was understandably very emotional. I'd picked up the phone and we talked for a few minutes. Tom could tell something was wrong by the tone in my voice and was up and awake on his side of the bed. I told her I'm sorry and I love her and handed the phone to Tom, another very spirited Aggie. The two of them talked and consoled each other in ways I couldn't. Tom was also becoming more and more emotional as he took in the scope of the tragedy, yet wanting to remain consoling and comforting and "Dad-like" with Melissa.

Over the next few days, I remember how that event consumed us and him and her and the news and as we watched, the finality of the tragedy grew.

A week later, the Aggies would upset us in Austin. Between those days, Tom would go into the hospital for the second time and be dismissed for Thanksgiving. We'd watch the game together in The Amarillo Room on Bradwood--Tom on oxygen.

If you Wikipedia "Aggie Bonfire" and scroll down to the part about the tragedy, this is how it describes that game:

"...the Aggies upset the Texas Longhorns, winning 20–16 in the annual rivalry game. The game began with a flyover of F-16 jets, all piloted by former A&M students, in the missing man formation. At halftime, the Texas Longhorn Band dedicated their performance to the students lost and injured in the collapse, and ended by playing Amazing Grace and Taps, then removing their white hats in a show of respect as they walked off the field. The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band also played a tribute to the fallen and, contrary to the usual tradition, marched off the field in a silent cadence. The stadium was so quiet that a baby's cry was the only noise heard throughout the crowd of over 86,000.[37] Aggie students, who normally sit only when the opposing band plays, stood throughout both performances and gave both standing ovations.[38]"

At that point, Tom and I were both in tears. Both schools, fierce rivals, needed big hugs from each other.

On the Monday after Thanksgiving, Tom checked back into the hospital in a calculated attempt to desensitize him to Bactrim so they could kill his pneumonia, but he had a resistant strain and died a few weeks later. At some point during that hospital stay, he spoke of the game above and told Eugene that's the only time he ever admired "the t-sips." (Longhorns)

Big hugs to my Aggie friends on this sad anniversary.

,m