This is the story of a young sprite from Ottawa County’s Georgetown Township who made an adult decision on faith — and it is tied to the kids she hopes to have in another 10 or 12 years.
It includes a coach from Hudsonville’s Baldwin Middle School who put doing the right thing ahead of winning and a school community sharing what you can’t discover in books.
Alyssia, 12, was born with defects to her legs that affect her nerves, arteries, veins and cartilage. When her parents, Chad and Karen Crook, adopted her from a Russian orphanage, she was 5 and walked on the balls of her feet. To feel the long, taut braid that runs behind her left knee is to grip a knotty cord.
This story should be read every time a goddamn collective bargaining agreement expires in professional sports.
