The Emory Barmore Foundation
Emory was a vibrant, silly, healthy, full-of-life 12-year-old beauty who went to live with Jesus at 11 p.m. on Friday, June 10, 2022. She was so amazing that I cannot help but share her story.
Emory entered this world on October 22, 2009. She was prayed for, she was wanted, and when she came into this world, she was embraced with all the love two parents could ever give one small being. I couldn’t wait to dress her in all the pink and bows. She was the most precious doll that ever was. Her beauty drew numbers, her laugh captured the heart of anyone around her, her faith could move mountains, her academics excelled, giving up or complaining was never an option, her hard work always paid off, her family was everything, and her love for horses that lasted until she left this world was beautiful.
When Emory was 4, she began to pray for a sister. Because God has a sense of humor, He gave her a brother instead. She was okay with that and embraced her role as a big sister. While she never wanted to play many sports, she did enjoy gymnastics and she really loved cheer. She was very good at both. She had never picked up a basketball. After finishing up 5th grade, she decided to try out for the 6th-grade Middle School basketball team. She spent her summer of 2021 practicing hard for try-outs. On September 10, 2021, despite being new to basketball, she made the team. She was so proud, and we were so proud of her!
Despite Emory’s excitement, being on the team wasn’t all fun and came with lots of challenges. She didn't have the warmest welcome from some of the more experienced players. There were times she wanted to quit because she felt like she wasn’t good enough or that she didn’t belong. She didn’t quit, though. Rather, she pushed through all the negativity and took pride in being a Warrior. She began to work harder!
On February 4, 2022, we met D’Aaron. Emory’s father and I found him through a friend that worked at ULM. We contacted D’Aaron and asked him to coach Emory 1-on-1. When he heard her story, he agreed right away. What we didn’t realize at the time is that God had brought two like souls together. She loved D’Aaron immediately. They worked so well together. Not only did he teach her so much about basketball, but he also showed her patience, kindness, how to be a team player, how to show respect to other players, and most importantly how to have fun playing. Emory walked away from him with so much more confidence. She was proud of herself for stepping out of her comfort zone. We are forever grateful to D’Aaron for using the struggles he faced in his basketball career to show kindness to her, for putting that smile on her face that lasted the rest of her basketball season. She didn’t rise to the top of the team, but she did play with joy!
Emory spent the last few months of her 6th-grade school year being her normal fun, goofy self surrounded by her abundance of friends and family. She had started working all the extra jobs around the house to earn enough money to go on a shopping spree when she went on the family vacation that she was helping to plan for the summer. She looked forward to our family adventures, and we did have many fun adventures. She finished her school year off with an A-B Honor Roll. Again, we couldn’t be more proud of her! Looking back now, God had blessed us with so many beautiful moments with her before she left this earth.
On the night of June 10th, Emory’s grandfather, George Michael Barmore, and her 12-year-old cousin, Lyla Grace Barmore, came to pick her up for a sleepover. They headed out to grab freshly made donuts and go to Papaw’s house. Just a few minutes after leaving our home, they were hit head-on by a drunk driver at a very high rate of speed. We lost all 3 of them instantly.
One week later, on the day we were to leave on that family vacation, we laid our beautiful Emory to rest.
From a mother’s heart, I can write pages on how life changed in that instant for our family, how the pain was and will always be unbearable, how we long to be in her presence, feel her, hear her laugh, or to look into her beautiful hazel eyes. I can write pages about what we felt had been taken away like first dates, first kisses, her dad walking her down the aisle at her wedding, or even the birth of her children. But that’s not the case at all. Emory was a gift from God. When He created her, He knew then that she was only going to be put on this earth for 12 short years, and out of the entire world, he chose me to be her mom! How thankful I am! God has blessed us through this tragedy. He has carried us when we couldn’t hold ourselves up, He has given us our next breath when we’ve cried so deeply we couldn’t breathe, He has shown mercy when we’ve needed it the most, and he has filled our hearts with peace knowing she’s in the arms of Jesus to whom she had given her heart.
The “Emory Barmore Foundation” was initiated by her wonderful friend, D’Aaron! He came to us wanting to give money he had raised to a graduate that may have a similar story as he and Emory has. We are looking for someone who has had struggles but has worked hard to overcome them. We are also looking for someone who did not get a full scholarship and would need the extra money to help with books or other college-related expenses. We are hoping to carry this on every year, getting bigger and bigger, helping more and more students.
If you would like to apply, please send us your story.
Scholarship Opportunity
Tell us about yourself. What are your particular interests and motivations? What is unique about the struggles you have faced and how you overcame them? How will you make use of the scholarship funds that you are applying for and may receive? We want to know who you are and hear your story.
Minimum 400 words. Upload your essay below.
DUE DATE: May 3, 2024
Award of one time $1,000 to help further your educational goals.
Apply Now
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