W-F speaker urges students to make a difference
By Angie Landsverk
Kathy Bresnahan says tears are healing.
She hopes sharing her story with the Weyauwega-Fremont community helps it continue to move forward.
“It is a story of hope, a story of kindness,” Bresnahan said.
She made that comment when she presented “Live Like Line” last month in the high school’s Performing Arts Center.
The March 12 program took place just before the COVID-19 pandemic closed schools in the state.
“We too lost a player. Coach T and I were in conversation immediately after the death of Taylor,” Bresnahan said.
Taylor Folk passed away last Aug. 30, due to complications from surgery.
It was just before she was to start her senior year at W-F High School, where she played volleyball, basketball and softball.
Rena Tomaszewski is W-F’s varsity volleyball coach.
She contacted Bresnahan shortly after Folk’s death.
That is because Bresnahan was the head volleyball coach at Iowa City West High School when a member of that team died.
“You’re always going to remember that moment when you heard that news,” she told W-F High School students.
Bresnahan remembers the call she received.
It was on the evening of Aug. 11, 2011.
She learned Caroline “Line” Found lost control of the moped she borrowed, hit a tree and died instantly.
Found was on her way to visit her terminally ill mother, who died 12 days later.
Bresnahan also remembers the question Found asked her before getting on the moped that day.
“Line asked, ‘What kind of gas do you need for a moped?’” Bresnahan said. “From the gas station, I told her.”
Moving forward
She told W-F’s students to not put themselves in the position of asking themselves “what ifs.”
Bresnahan did not know how her team could move forward after the loss.
“We were back in the gym 36 hours later,” she said.
Found was the setter on the school’s 2010 state championship team, and one of the toughest things Bresnahan had to do was ask Found’s best friend to now be the setter.
“She said she couldn’t,” Bresnahan said. “Think about when your parents, teachers or coaches ask you to do something.”
That means someone “believes in you so much that they think you can do this,” she said.
Bresnahan said it was tough for Found’s friend to take over as setter.
“She could barely get through the school day, practice,” she said.
Sometimes, it was too much for her.
“When it is too much, ask for help,” Bresnahan said.
She said her team did not have a good practice that entire season.
After it won the state championship again, Bresnahan said what tore her apart was that they would not be together anymore.
‘The Miracle Season’
Bresnahan wrote about her experience in “The Miracle Season,” which was published in 2018.
A movie of the same name followed.
“This whole thing was about the girl who knew how to live and the girls who refused to let her die,” she said.
Bresnahan described Found as a character, saying she once ordered 23 Domino’s pizzas for everyone in detention with her.
“She was the most amazing leader I’ve ever been around. She was a leader in school,” Bresnahan said. “She made people feel important, and when she talked to you, you felt that.”
Special needs students were her buddies.
She befriended a boy with autism and ate lunch with him every day.
“Every single day you have a choice,” Bresnahan said.
She said Found once told her that every day when she woke up, she thought about what she could do for someone else that day.
Bresnahan said W-F is fortunate to be a small school and small community that can rally together.
“There’s still a lot of tough things coming up. Graduation is going to bite. You know it, seniors,” she said. “You’re going to get through these tough times together.”
She told the students to decide what it means to be part of “Tay’s story” and how they are going to live their lives.
“Please be kind,” Bresnahan said. “Go out and make a difference. I believe in you.”