COUNTY LIFE
‘He was going to save my life;’ couple shares liver transplant
The Gresham family: Jessica, Mackenzie, Jonathan and Boadie. (Courtesy photo)
By BARBARA GREEN
In 2005 Jessica Gresham was a happy, healthy 23-year-old enjoying life with her high school sweetheart husband and raising their teenage daughter.
However, 13 years later she has battled a serious liver disease and is recovering from a live donor transplant provided by her husband Jonathan.
The transplant surgery took place on April 10 and on May 12 the couple was able to return home after four weeks at an onsite recovery apartment near Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
For this close-knit family it has been a long road to finally discovering first what was making Jessica ill and how to deal with its effects as they further impacted her liver. Today, they are reveling in returning to their home just outside Bowie and focusing on getting better.
The Greshams are both hometown kids, born and raised in Bowie. Jessica is the daughter of Teresa and Bobby Staats and Jonathan the son of Nancy Gresham.
Jonathan graduated from Bowie High School in 1999 and two weeks later was at a U.S. Army boot camp fulfilling his dream to go into the military. He served eight years as a combat engineer and after active duty went into the National Guard, during which time he was deployed for a year to Iraq in 2005.
Jessica graduated in 2000 and they were married in May of her senior year. After she graduated she moved to Killeen where her husband was stationed at Fort Hood. Their family soon grew as Makenzie was born later that year.
After John returned home from Iraq he went to work running a motorgrader for two local companies before taking a job with GE Oil and Gas, where he has worked the past 10 years.
Getting sick
While her husband was deployed in the Middle East, Jessica began to get sick with what she first thought was her gall bladder. However, tests showed high liver numbers and her spleen was enlarged, so she was directed to a liver specialist who discovered her body was rejecting its liver. It was the beginning of many years of battling this disease only to be told in 2017 she would have to undergo a liver transplant.
Read the full feature in the weekend News.
Bowie Independent School District Trustees accepted the recommendations for professional educator contracts with a few on hold as they await certification, as well as some staff who have indicated they may retire or resign.
The board met Monday night and Superintendent Blake Enlow said there are a few staff members who have said they plan to leave, but have not “formally” resigned. The board reviewed the list of contract offers in executive session and back in open session approved the list with stipulations for those finishing up certifications.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
The springtime tradition of Cruisin’ Nocona on May 3-4 with lots of family fun activities. This is the 11th annual event.
Enjoy the popular Poker Cruise on May 3 as drivers travel a 120-mile trek through the countryside of Montague County enjoying several stops along the way before looping back to Nocona for lunch.
Early-bird registration is $50. Forms are available at the Nocona Chamber of Commerce office at 304 Clay St. #3 or go online to Nocona.org/events to get a form. After April 25 the cost goes up to $65.
There will be on-site registration from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. that day at 915 E. U.S. Highway 82, where the cruise starts at 10 a.m. Each driver gets a goodie bag with a Cruisin’ Nocona T-shirt and ticket for the cruise lunch. Additional lunch tickets may be purchased for $20.
First-third place prizes will be awarded to the best poker hands.
On May 4 downtown Nocona will be filled with classic cars and big trucks for Cruisin’ Car Show. This is the second year to include the big trucks set up along Clay and West Walnut Streets.
Prizes will be awarded to the top 10 cars and pickups, top five motorcycles, Big Truck People’s Choice and Big Truck that traveled the farthest to the show. All makes and models welcomed. Forms are available on the chamber’s website.
The car show will have registration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Clay and W. Walnut with judging from 1-3 p.m. Awards will be presented at 4 p.m. at the H.J. Justin Building, 100 Clay.
The May 8 deadline is almost here for the 2024 Keepsake Graduation section produced by The Bowie News. It is the only section where you will see senior photos of every high school in Montague County and Bellevue.
If you want to honor your graduate with a special ad or your business wants to congratulate a working senior, call 872-2247 or print a copy of the submission form at bowienewsonline.com. The section will publish on May 22.
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