Ray Thombs and I have been married for 37 years. Like you, we’ve walked many tough roads and celebrated countless wonderful moments. I want to share another example of why Ray would make a wonderful representative for us at the State House.

This battle, wrapped in blessings, shaped who Ray and I are today.

In 1990, after years of infertility treatments, we were blessed with our first child. Jessica was born with a condition called NF-1 (Neurofibromatosis, type one), which was diagnosed at age two. Her fight had just begun.

At age three, specialists in San Francisco informed us that not only did she have a tumor in her optic nerve, causing legal blindness, but also a tumor in the right frontal lobe of her brain. They told us she wouldn’t live to see age five and that it was an emergency.

We needed to move immediately from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho to Travis Air Force Base in California to begin chemotherapy. At the ripe old age of 26 years old, we had no idea what we were doing or where we were headed.

During those incredibly hard days, nights, and moments, we realized that as parents, we had to stay positive and find reasons to laugh. If we only focused on what we were seeing and feeling, we would have given up hope for our baby girl’s future. We needed to create happy memories, not knowing what lay ahead for Jessica. So, we chose to find joy in the hard times.

For example, when Jessica was having a rough round of chemo and her counts were low, we’d grab two little red wagons—Ray would take Jessica in his, and I’d take our baby Beth in the other—and we’d play hide-and-seek in the children’s ward.

The giggles and laughter in that hospital hallway from a very sick little girl still make us smile today, as we remember the joy we chose to create in such difficult times.

Jessica’s journey continued with more rounds of chemo, brain surgery, spinal surgery, and countless other battles. In the midst of everything, Ray’s unshakable hope was the strength that kept our family grounded. We learned to persevere, developing both character and hope. Hope became our focus. Jessica not only made it past age 5 and 10, but beyond.

At 29, she was placed on hospice. The next 10 months were incredibly difficult. Those 29 years had been tough, but nothing compares to watching your child suffer in such pain, bed-bound as a tumor grew rapidly. Clinging to hope felt like holding on to a derailing train. We knew what was coming.

Holding Jessica close every moment became a bittersweet necessity—almost suffocating in its intensity. Each giggle, each whispered 'I love you,' became more precious than ever. In November, as we sat with Jessica while she took her last breath, we knew that everything we had learned and persevered through had carried us toward hope.

We miss our baby girl beyond words. Every day, we remember the joy Jess brought into our lives. Her story is just one example of how perseverance builds character, and how character leads to hope.

Join me, Ray’s wife, in voting to elect Ray Thombs for Hope, Union, and Warren. Let’s bring character, perseverance, and hope to Augusta—hope for a better tomorrow!

Tracey Thombs lives in Union