Dudleys Diary

Wichita Falls, we only had 3 tv stations. After the 4th grade we moved to Fort Worth and Dudley was pleasantly surprised to discover we now had a total of 6 tv stations to pick from. We had one UHF channel 39 back in those days and 5 VHF stations. On Friday or Saturday nights or maybe it was Saturday or Sunday morning you could watch real Bullfights on channel 39. It was in black and white and Dudley would guess it was telecast from Mexico. Dudley tried to stay up and watch when he could. It is a brutal sport but it probably helped prepare Dudley for life which can be damned brutal at times. Especially so for a boy/young man with big dreams who tried to take on the world with an undiagnosed Neuromuscular Disease. Dudley fought long and hard to make it in a man's world and it can be brutal. Dudley did not have the strength, or the stamina of all those he was trying to compete against but it did not stop Dudley from giving it everything he had. Dudley had a wife and two little kids depending on him. Dudley worked himself to the point of a physical breakdown until he was hospitalized with pneumonia. Because of his failing health he was forced to move and start a new career. It wasn't long before Dudley worked himself into the hospital again this time with a collapsed lung and a herniated diaphragm. Dudley almost died after going into respiratory failure following surgery to repair the hernia and collapsed lung. Life can be brutal alright. Dudley never gave up hope and had faith in God and his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that everything was going according to plan and would work out. Since that night in the hospital when Dudleys wife could tell something was not right and called for help and Dudley was rushed back to ICU and put on a ventilator, Dudley has fought a lot of battles but even though life can be brutal at times, Dudley has not given up.