Titans Coleman portrait in courage

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Titans Coleman portrait in courage

By Cody Pastorella

The Port Arthur News

Brave.

To put it simply, brave means a person who shows courage under difficult circumstances.

Memorial’s Terry Coleman probably doesn’t think of himself as brave. He’s quiet and reserved, yet the junior linebacker’s actions this season have spoken volumes of just how brave he is.

On Tuesday, Sept. 18, Terry lost his mother, Cangela Coleman, to colon cancer. She fought hard and was in and out of the hospital through the summer. Terry was always with her. From practice, to school, to the hospital, to bed, he balanced his life around his mother, around his best friend.

?t was hard,†he said. ?t still is hard. It was hard in the summer because I was going through summer workouts while she was in the hospital. I didn’t want to miss workouts. There were some nights that I stayed with her at the hospital. A lot of nights really.â€

Cangela got better toward the end of the summer but just a few weeks into the school year she was back in the hospital.

? stayed with her then too,†Coleman said. ?he was my best friend, you know. We liked to watch movies together. We would go run at the track together. She was always there for me. I? tell her about my problems, my worries.

“he got sick again before our first game. She never got to see me play, but I know she’s watching me now though.â€

Coleman said his mother always encouraged him and no matter what was going on, Cangela’s advice for her son was to always keep after his goals.

?he always told me to ‘keep doing what Iím doing,’ †he said.

That’s exactly the motto Terry has lived by this season. He has shown perseverance when the strongest would fall.

Just two days after his mother passed away, Terry was on the field with his team for Memorial’s game against Houston Lamar.

? know thatís what she would have told me to do,†he said. ?f I could have asked her, she would have told me to play.â€

Defensive coordinator Curtis Viola said Coleman is one of the best kids he has ever been around.

? have a lot of respect for that kid,†Viola said. ?e doesn’t give up at anything. To go what he’s going through, to get back on the field just two days after his mother passed away, to want to be there for his teammates, he is just a tremendous kid