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DallasCowboys.com March 12, 2008 (The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders participate in a number of community out reach programs which include visits to area nursing homes. The following is a letter received regarding one of their recent visits to one of the nursing homes.)
February 25, 2008
Mrs. Kelli Finglass Dear Mrs. Finglass, There are those who believe that the only Cowboy victories that matter occur on the football field. I am not one of those, for I know better. I saw a victory of much more lasting significance occur in the most improbable of places, and I am delighted that I had the opportunity to do so. Once again, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have shown me why they are America's Sweethearts. A casual observer may conclude that the DCC are America's Sweethearts because they are beautiful. Another may say it is because they are extremely talented. While both are most assuredly correct, the real reason that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are, and will always be, America's Sweethearts is because of the ways in which they touch the lives of those they come in contact with. I had the privilege of watching the Cheerleaders in action at their visit to a nursing home last weekend. Nursing homes are not known for being "happy" places. As my grandmother once said, "I wasn't always old." Neither were these people. In days past, they were just as strong and vibrant as you or I. The nursing homes do all they can to provide activities for the residents, but there is only so much that they can do. Depression and loneliness are commonplace among those on whom age has taken its toll. Because of this, the joy the DCC brought to the residents was all the sweeter; allowing them to feel important and useful again.
I followed the DCC as they entered the main dining room of the facility. It was heart warming to listen to the overall noise level rise significantly and watch the faces in the room light up as the Cheerleaders entered. The feeling in the room reminded me of the feeling you get as the first rays of the sun emerge after the darkness of a rainstorm. It was as if hope entered the room with the Cheerleaders. As the ladies mingled with the residents, I saw people who had been almost comatose open their eyes and talk with the Cheerleaders. The listless became animated; smiles shown on faces previously distant. In an instant, the Cheerleaders effortlessly closed the generation gap. Ladies in their golden years became little girls again as they talked with the Cheerleaders about how they had also been dancers when they were young. As the cheerleaders spread out to visit the people unable to come to the dining room, they picked up an entourage. Several ladies in wheelchairs followed along behind. The Cheerleaders quickly made the ladies part of the group and pushed their wheelchairs as they moved from room to room. Even the most cold-hearted curmudgeon would have had a smile on their face watching those ladies being pushed down the hall. I know that the nursing homes were required of the Cheerleaders as part of the Dallas Cowboys Organizational goals of community outreach. But I also know that you may have required the ladies to go, but there is not way any person could require them to invest so much of themselves in the people they met there. The act of reaching beyond yourself to take an interest in another person can only come from within. But that is exactly what every one of America's Sweethearts did that day. Without even thinking about it, they reached out and touched the lives of everyone there. I am always surprised at how the Cheerleaders view their accomplishments as "all in a day's work", or "we didn't do anything special," when in fact the things they do are very special. The smiles and laughter they bring can have long lasting effects. As a matter of fact, the nursing home administrator told me that the residents will be noticeably more active for several days following the Cheerleaders' visit. While not the stuff that will make the evening news, it is no less significant. This was only one visit of the hundreds that the Cheerleaders make in a single year. Add in the USO trips, hospital trips and other events like Camp DCC and total number of people whose lives the Cheerleaders brighten must number in the tens of thousands.
Even though I do not have a family member at that nursing home, please accept my thanks for the many wonderful things done by the Cheerleaders during their visit. I'm sure that you got reports that the trip "went well" and that the cheerleaders "had fun", but I felt it important that you know what really went on and how it was so much more than that. Just look at the faces in the pictures, or ask the Cheerleaders to tell you about Ruby (Ruby is the lady in the picture at the bottom of the page). You have a team of very special ladies, each of whom possesses an inner beauty that shines brightly enough to light up a room. I have seen it on numerous occasions. The new stadium may be a place where our grandchildren and great grandchildren can spend a Sunday cheering the Cowboys on-field exploits, but rest assured that the foundation of the Cowboys future will be built in part on the off the field efforts of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. You should be very proud of them, and the Metroplex is a better place because we have them in our backyard.
Sincerely,
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