[CHRON]Coping with life's trials Rockets director of player programs still drawing go

By JONATHAN FEIGEN

The event, or at least all that had been planned, was over, and it had been by any measure a success.

Augustine De la Fuente, a participant in the Make-A-Wish Foundation program, had been given his wish to be around the Rockets, attending a practice, meeting the players, and laughing easily at the jokes. The cameras were gone, the gym nearly empty when Rockets director of player programs Shawn Respert came rushing back to the court.

Wearing his nearly ever-present smile and moving with his customary energy, he brought De la Fuente back to the floor and went to work. He put him through drills, stopping to talk and teach and share the moment, seeming to get as much from it as De la Fuente.

Respert, 37, treated him the way he would the NBA players in his charge, and nothing like a patient, until De la Fuente was smiling as much as Respert, never knowing how much they share.

“You have a small opportunity to make somebody feel how great it is to be in an atmosphere like this,” Respert said. “You don't have to be fake about it.

“For me, being a parent (he and his wife, Lenae, have a son Aaron, 13, and a daughter Cheyenne, 12), I think if I was dead and gone tomorrow, what would I want somebody to do for my kids? I don't want them to be fake about it. Treat them as regular kids. Don't treat them like you feel sorry for them. Don't treat them like something is wrong with them. The more you treat them normal, the more they will respond and know they don't have to feel sorry for themselves.”

Read more at
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/6786605.html
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Oops, sorry. Thread title should be
Coping with life's trials, Rockets director of player programs still drawing good from battle with cancer