KILGOROUND
MITCH LUCAS

SHANNON GILLEY was a respected teacher, a mother, a friend, and the entire Kilgore community, it seems, is mourning after she was killed in an accident over the weekend.

This is very uncharacteristic of me, but I wrote much of this Kilgoround on Sunday afternoon after church because, rather than just something to fill space in a newspaper, this one goes deeper. It's therapeutic for me to write, and maybe even for you to read, if you were as affected as I was by the loss of Mrs. Gilley, a teacher at Maude Laird Middle School.

Mrs. Gilley died Sunday morning of injuries she suffered in a motorcycle/automobile accident Saturday evening, and her husband Shane was critically injured. It should be noted right now that I didn't really know the Gilleys that well... or so I thought.

+++ A FEW WEEKS ago, my son Jacob, 7, signed up to

play baseball in the Kilgore Boys Baseball Association. He was assigned to be a member of the 7-and-8 yearold Cardinals, and I didn't know until Jacob's first practice that the Gilleys' son, Luke, was also on that team. Naturally, I knew Mrs. Gilley from school - she taught my oldest child, Teresa, at Kilgore Intermediate, and then moved over to MLMS, and had Tee again this year.

At that first practice, I spoke with Mrs. Gilley for just a moment, as Shane helped coach the kids, along with coach Jared Ray. I went about my business, watching Jacob practice, and my wife Jenna shared a few words with Mrs. Gilley, along with Tee.

I never really thought about it until then, but I realized just how much Tee talked about Mrs. Gilley - her science class, her work as a cheerleader sponsor, and her daughter Hannah. I remember thinking a couple of weeks ago just how glad I was that Tee had teachers with whom she had good relationships.

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ON SATURDAY, the Cardinals faced the Tatum Gray team at noon. I had just finished the News Herald's Sunday sports section, went and picked up Jenna and the kids and got Jacob there on time.

Shane was coaching at first base, and Mrs. Gilley and other members of their family were sitting in the bleachers in front of us. At one point in the game, Shane was joking with them, something about a woman's large purple hat that a man was wearing, and we all laughed.

When the game was over, we congratulated the kids, helped Jacob get his things, and I nodded and smiled to Shannon as we left. Little did I know that would be the last time I would ever see her, as the accident would happen just scant hours later.

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I SAW THE NEWS of a motorcycle/ car accident near Kilgore on Saturday's 10 p.m. news, and at that time, just had a bad feeling. It wasn't long ago, you'll remember, that our publisher here, Bill Woodall, and our co-worker, Jessica Matlock, were injured in a car accident on Highway 31.

At any rate, I shook off the bad feeling and didn't think about it again until I got to Sunday school at Highland Park Baptist Church, where I found out the horrible news.

It's hard to describe the next few moments, other than just disbelief. Tee really, really took it hard. Shannon Gilley, as it turns out, was a big influence on her life the last two years. She was her favorite teacher.

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AFTER AN emotional few minutes, I went back to church, choked back feelings and sang with the choir. I've never felt less like singing in my entire life, and it was hard. But I made it through it. I listened as Brother Riley Pippen told the congregation about the accident, and offered prayer requests for the family.

In the message that followed, Brother Riley quoted the biblical passage from James (James 4:14): "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while, and then vanishes.").

Anyone older than 18, 19 has likely dealt with death before - I have, on several occasions. But it's never easy. Honestly, I've often wondered how people who aren't Christian deal with the passing of someone they love. I don't know how they get through it.

Please pray for Shane Gilley, for the Gilleys' children, Luke and Hannah, for their entire family, and the KISD faculty and family. Pray for my child, as well, and all children that were in Mrs. Gilley's classes, because she really was a wonderful lady, and from everything I've been told, she's in a better place.

This community has been dealt a very, very hard blow. With God's help, we will get through it. But it will take time.

A memorial service for Mrs. Gilley will be held at Dodson Auditorium on the Kilgore College campus at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Also, donations can be made to the Gilley Scholarship Fund or the memorial fund at the First Christian Church, 609 E. Main Street, Kilgore, TX, 75662.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY to Joey Pippin, Esther Neel, Margaret Washington, Still Collum, Marnie Foster Kellie Moore, Paul Peterson, Agnes Thurmond, Nancy Lee Springer, H.D. Lee, Amanda Averett, Lester Hedges, G.W. Boyd, Ashley Fouse, Cole Manos, Margie Moore, Lollie Mager, Caleb White, Sarah Ann Williams, W.T. (Red) Kettleurell, Phyliss Schleier, Phillip Williams, Kayla Rosen, Daniel Martin

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HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TODAY to Mr. and Mrs. Bob Bryant, Joe Cross and Angie Robinson Cross.