Lathom Kelley, a badass with a big heart. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
The first sound you hear is footsteps.
Coming fast and strong from behind, then next to you, then exploding past you, as he literally runs up the gym wall, elevating as high as possible before his body flips over and he crashes back to the floor.
Then his laugh, filling the entire gym, and filtering away through the open doors, spilling across the prairie.
He pauses for a moment, both arms thrust high over his head, grin creasing his face, fingers firing a rock-em salute to the heavens, and then he’s gone, off to other adventures in what will undoubtedly be a busy day.
He is Lathom Kelley and he is a genuine one-of-one human being, not quite like any other kid who I have written about in the thousands of articles I’ve tapped out over the last three-decades-plus.
A rabble rouser at times, yes, but one with a true heart of gold.
He punches a locker to fire up his football team, breaks his hand on a lock he probably thought he could bust wide open through sheer force of will, then plays every last down the rest of the season, hand encased in a cast, swinging madly to and fro as he drags a pack of would-be tacklers down the field.
Lining up alongside Wiley Hesselgrave, the quiet man of few words assassin who is the yin to his yang — Lathom is more a hootin’ and hollerin’ wrecking ball of pure emotion — the duo truly leave every last drop of sweat they have on the turf.
“Can’t hold me down!” (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)
Put him in a track and field uniform, and Lathom can, and almost does, compete in every event offered.
Except for maybe the pole vault, likely because the coaches are afraid he’ll use the extra boost as a way to soar up above the clouds and land on the school roof, just to entertain the fans.
Cause if there’s a show to put on, Lathom loves the spotlight, and it loves him right back.
And yet, he is at times astonishingly low-key about his own talents, quick to praise others, to build up his teammates and demand they get their well-deserved praise.
Sharing the spotlight with brother Brandon. (Shawna Kelley photo)
He bursts with pride when he talks about his brother, Brandon, and there is a moment during a boys’ basketball Senior Night event where he shows a depth few teenagers have.
Every Wolf player but one has family on the scene, but Lathom won’t allow his classmate to be left alone when his name is announced.
Bounding down from the top of the stands, he flies onto the court, slides in behind, plucks the rose from his hand, and bearhugs his mate, lifting him off the floor while bellowing, “My boy! My boy!! I’m so proud of you!!”
Afterwards Lathom exits, stage left, rose clenched between his teeth, off to create more good-natured havoc wherever they will have him, and the buzz in the CHS gym still lingers to his day.
For a couple of years, I run a yearly poll to name the top high school athlete, a chance to spike my page views and allow enterprising computer hackers to try and bust the system.
Lathom? He should be a favorite to win, but he refuses to be part of it, telling me he’s not looking to crush anyone else’s dreams.
“And I already know I’m awesome anyway,” he adds, and then laughs and heads out to create more havoc.
Until he sees that a parent has gifted me a plate of chocolate chip cookies, and suddenly Lathom slides back into view, popping up at my elbow to enquire, “So, you gonna eat all those yourself?? Yeah, I don’t think so, buddy!!”
He is part of the CHS Class of 2016, and he and his classmates are in their first days as freshmen when I launch this blog late in the summer of 2012.
There are one or two of his fellow frosh who I have known since they were little kids, a couple of others who I know in passing.
Lathom? I don’t know him at all in August 2012, but as he strolls past me at one of his first high school football practices, he turns, sees me writing something down that the coach has said, and leans in.
“Hey, you better learn my name, it’s Lathom Kelley … cause I … am … gonna … be HUGE!!!”
And then he laughs all the way to the locker room, not knowing how right he was.
There are learning pains and twists and turns over the next four years, but Lathom at 18 is not Lathom at 14.
Then he goes on to real life, and Lathom at 25 is not Lathom at 18.
We pass each other from time to time, in the stands at games or on a street in Cow Town, and he is still an entertaining dude, but the growth is evident, and I’m not just talking about his beard.
He is finding all the layers to his personal onion, and the people who love him have grown to include a little boy who will be a better man because of his time with Lathom.
But then he’s gone, three days after his 25th birthday, a hole punched through the universe by a tragic accident on the water.
Life is not fair, and it is easy to get swept away by sadness and despair.
That Lathom has not been forgotten, that others have kept his memory alive, fresh and treasured, in the four years since his death, gives me hope.
The CHS Class of 2016 has its 10-year reunion in October, a chance for those freshmen from the first days of Coupeville Sports to reunite and see where life has taken them over the last decade.
Lathom won’t be there in body, but I have no doubt he will absolutely be there in spirit.
That he will live on through the memories of his friends, who will tell stories about the irrepressible one — some we know, some that are theirs and theirs alone.
I know that for me, I think about Lathom every time I see the header photo on this blog, which features his #44 uniform.
When I walk off Mickey Clark Field after talking to a coach after a game, most of the lights having winked off, I still picture him in my mind’s eye.
Crashing down the field. Headbutting his teammates. Good-naturedly needling his coaches. Eyeballing my plate of cookies.
And when I walk into the CHS gym, I pause for a second every time.
Because no matter how loud it is at that moment, or how quiet, if you listen, truly listen, it’s always there.
It’s the footsteps, full of joy and mischief, full of life.
It’s Lathom Kelley flying by, and it is the sweetest sound.
There is a scholarship in Lathom’s memory. For more info, pop over to:
Living Like Lathom Scholarship | Coupeville Schools Foundation
