Why I Know That I Have Big Shoes To Fill

I am the product of an amazing, but humble history.

My paternal grandfather, W.T. Sessums had one of the first dairy farms in this area. W.T. and Grace Jane Yates and their ten children (which included two sets of twins) lived in a house on the rim of the canyon on East Broadway across from the present day Mackenzie Park. My father, Ray, used to deliver milk on horseback during the darkest days of the Depression—a ten year old boy doing his best to help in the family business. I remember him telling me stories of the circus that erected their tents across the road from their house and how he would help them “set up” in order to get a free ticket to the circus. The family would often travel to Hillsboro to help relatives harvest cotton crops in the fall.

My mother, Eva was born in Seymour, Texas—one of seven siblings. Her father, G.C. Clark was a grocer turned farmer in Baylor County. They were poor, but never went hungry because of their farm. Eva knew hardship early–her mother, Johnnie, died of typhoid fever from a contaminated cistern when my mother was only six years old.

When Ray and Eva married at only seventeen, neither had a high school diploma and they worked very hard to make a home for their daughters, Shirley and Carol. As a young man, my father worked at the Lubbock Cattle Auction that was on Ave. G. He did anything he was told to do from leading livestock into the bidding arena to scooping up their “bovine indiscretions”. I remember my mother constantly standing at the ironing board in the kitchen, starching those khakis that my dad wore to work everyday. Later, my mother chose to supplement the family income by waiting tables at Harold’s Café—a legendary Mom and Pop café owned by her friends, Harold and Evelyn McMillan. I can’t tell you how many times my school lunch money came out of her tip jar.

Eventually, both of my parents excelled in their careers—my dad becoming a self-employed cattle buyer and my mother becoming a buyer for W.D. Wilkins. They did it by taking one day at a time with sheer determination, never giving up and never being ashamed of who they were or where they came from.

My inheritance from my family didn’t come in the form of money. It was something of much greater value.

From my roots, I inherited an indomitable determination and the courage to hold my head up high and be proud of who I am, no matter my circumstances or human failings.

My motives in running for District 84, Texas House of Representative are pure and simple—I merely want to use my time and talents to help my hometown and most of all, the wonderfully warm and kind people of West Texas.

Most of all, I fervently hope that my bid for public service is one that is a fitting tribute to the legacy of my brave grandparents and my parents, Ray and Eva Sessums.

Good parents give their children roots and wings. Roots to know where home is, wings to fly away and exercise what’s been taught them. — Jonas Salk