Vince Young Valentine
By Garrett Alan Oleen
The winter of 2004/2005 was right in the middle of a difficult time for me personally. I was working nearly 40 hours a week at a job that was only supposed to be part-time. I was a supervisor at the UPS facility in Belton, TX and I traveled 43 miles to work each morning. I usually woke up around 2:15AM to be to work by 3:30 and normally worked until 9:00AM. Lately, though things were piling up and often I wasn’t able to leave until 10:30 or 11:00 at the earliest. I would then rush to school at the University of Texas at Austin where I was working on my Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature. As a part of my degree program I was also teaching a lower division Spanish class for the department. My days were long and my nights were short. I was finding it extremely difficult to be all that was required of me. I was not yet in despair and generally felt optimistic about everything, though the line between the two was very thin and deep down, I was struggling.
My oldest son Kayson had just turned 7 and was beginning to enjoy sports, especially football. In a way I think he was trying to connect with his dad who he was seeing less and less of with every passing day. I helped coached his flag football team and almost instantly Kayson became a Texas Longhorns fan. Being a life long BYU and Utah fan, it took a while for me to hop on the Longhorn bandwagon, but the spectacular play of Quarterback Vince Young in the 2005 Rose Bowl soon won me over and Kayson had found his first hero that wasn’t from a comic book. Near Valentine’s day, Kayson’s first grade class was given the assignment to make a valentine for someone special. I think the teacher intended for the students to make one for their family or friends. Most made them for moms, dads or grandparents, but Kayson didn’t think like the rest of his classmates. He made a special Valentine for his hero Vince Young! He showed it to me and I looked at the first grade handwriting and drawing and I praised him for his artistic ability and said something like, “Wow son, that’s nice. I’m glad you are thinking of others.” Then he said something that floored me. “I want you to take it to school and give it to him.” I almost laughed out loud at the request and tried to explain that I didn’t know Vince Young and had never seen him on campus. Kayson softly replied “Just take it and give it to him Dad.” I again tried to explain that with over 50,000 students and faculty on campus at any given time, it wasn’t very likely that I was going to see him, and I didn’t have time to go all over campus and look for him. Kayson persisted, “Just take it, Dad. You’ll see him and you can give it to him.” Reluctantly I said “OK, I’ll do my best.” Kayson’s eyes lit up and he smiled and put his arms around me in a big hug, “I know you will Dad. You’ll see him.” I wasn’t looking forward to his disappointment when I didn’t. The thought came to me that I could probably just take it to the Sports Information office or Athletic Department and they could give it to him, but I could just hear Kayson’s words in my head “Give it to him Dad” and I knew that anything less than a personal encounter would bring certain disappointment. I sat the Valentine on the counter, hoping he would just forget about it.
The next morning as I was preparing to leave at 2:30, I turned on the kitchen light and the first thing I saw was the Valentine. I knew what Kayson expected, so I carefully put it in my backpack and added an almost frivolous attachment to my morning prayer; “And, oh yes, Father in Heaven, if there is some way possible that I might run in to Vince Young at school today, please let it be so. Thy will be done.” Off to work I went, giving no more thought to the Valentine or Vince Young at all. It was a rough day; I ended up doing the job of a sick employee and had to stay late to get my own work done. By the time I got to the school, I only had about thirty minutes to shower, change and get to my class on time. Lately this was pretty routine, it was about the time I got there everyday and I was in the habit of going to Gregory Gym to shower and change as I could park out front in the loading zone for a half hour without getting a parking ticket. That day however as I pulled up, I noticed something a little different. I saw three or four big athletic-looking young men walking by in UT burnt orange and I surmised immediately that they were football players. The Valentine flashed in my mind and I looked at them intently to see if maybe Vince was one of them. Sure enough, he was right there, walking right by my car. I called his name and beckoned him over to my car and laughingly, popped the trunk and pulled the valentine out of my backpack and told him that my son was one of his biggest fans and had made the valentine for him. I sheepishly and nervously laughed as I gave it to him and he smiled when he heard the story. I urged him to keep it, but he asked if I had a pen, signed it and gave it back and told me to tell Kayson to keep playing football and to do well in school. He walked away and I never saw him again, except in the limelight of television where he propelled himself to stardom and NFL glory as the next season he became the Heisman Trophy runner-up and led the Longhorns to another Rose Bowl victory and a National Championship.
I was electrified and elated though as he nonchalantly strolled away and as I walked in to the gym the lines from a primary hymn repeated over and over in my mind “Heavenly, are you really there? Do you hear and answer every child’s prayer?” and I couldn’t help but change the words to “Do you hear and answer every father’s prayer” and I yelled out in my soul “Yes! Yes! He does! He lives!” for I knew he had heard mine, however frivolous I thought it might be. He cared about me and he cared about my son and about our relationship together. I know it was a small thing that probably could have been accomplished a hundred other ways, but to me it was the Balm of Gilead, it was my Father in Heaven reaching down and putting his arm around me in the most tender expression of encouragement. My faith was renewed. He heard me, he knows me and I am grateful to Him for it.
I immediately called my wife and though not as enthusiastic as I was, she agreed to tell Kayson that I had a surprise for him when I got home. When I told him the story and gave him back the Valentine he just smiled and said “I knew you would” and ran off to play. Deanna saved it and made a special page for it in Kayson’s scrapbook. Even now as I look at it, the simple hymn runs through my mind in a sweet child’s voice. “Heavenly Father, are you really there?” and I know He is, and that makes all the difference.
