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Rob Comer’s darkest day, turns into his brightest · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Rob Comber's darkest day turns into his brightest Written by
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  Speaker 1: Kevin Hieronymus, This article is being read by an automated
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  Speaker 1: voice brought to you by Everlett. Rob Coomer's darkest day
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  Speaker 1: of his life became his brightest. On April twenty second,
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  Speaker 1: his family of four lost their Princeton home to a
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  Speaker 1: house fire. It was a total loss. Cummer, a thirty
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  Speaker 1: nine year old Army veteran who is heavily involved in
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  Speaker 1: youth sports in Princeton, said he's never felt so helpless.
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  Speaker 1: You tell your kids all the time that everything will
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  Speaker 1: be okay, Cummer said, but you really don't know if
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  Speaker 1: you're okay or not. You don't know what you're going
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  Speaker 1: to do. I was completely helpless and I didn't know
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  Speaker 1: what to do. But each day gets better. The Combers
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  Speaker 1: quickly found they were not alone in their day of despair,
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  Speaker 1: as the Princeton community, including schools, youth sports organizations, and
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  Speaker 1: churches rallied around them, offering clothes, gift card's, meals, and
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  Speaker 1: most importantly love. It's overwhelming. This town is amazing with
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  Speaker 1: all the people who have helped, said Comer. A two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and five Henry Senequaine Graduate. We were very blessed
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  Speaker 1: with the community that we had and all the friends
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  Speaker 1: we've made, I can call them family. They are no
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  Speaker 1: longer just community, their family because they helped out so much.
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  Speaker 1: To have you guys in our family is a complete blessing.
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  Speaker 1: We're so thankful for all you guys. We can't be
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  Speaker 1: more blessed to live in this town and have this
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  Speaker 1: community as our home and people we call family. It
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  Speaker 1: proved to be a teachable moment for the father of
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  Speaker 1: a thirteen year old boy, Robert, and nine year old
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  Speaker 1: girl Amayah. My daughter said something kind of funny, and
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  Speaker 1: this is who we try to be as people, she said, Dad,
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  Speaker 1: if we were bad people, we'd be cook Comer said.
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  Speaker 1: And I thought that was the funniest thing from a
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  Speaker 1: nine year old. But it's true. You try to do
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  Speaker 1: things to help people, not because as I need to,
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  Speaker 1: but it's something you're supposed to. It back to you,
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  Speaker 1: whatever your religious beliefs are, it comes back to you.
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  Speaker 1: That's why I try to teach the kids to be
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  Speaker 1: good people, and I think they're on the way to
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  Speaker 1: be good people. Try to uplift people, help out when
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  Speaker 1: we can. A man of faith. Comer believes there was
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  Speaker 1: a purpose to the house fire. There's a reason for everything.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what the reason is this time. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: it's not for me to know, he said, But God
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  Speaker 1: has a reason for everything. This probably was to show
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  Speaker 1: us how blessed we are to have a community we
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  Speaker 1: have and the people we around, he said. Probably the
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  Speaker 1: reason he's in Princeton is that he met his wife,
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  Speaker 1: Erica here. She's from here. Been together for fifteen years,
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  Speaker 1: married for ten years, he said. Eric Waka played against
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  Speaker 1: Comer in the Princeton Fast Pitched Church League and has
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  Speaker 1: become fast friends coaching their sons together in youth sports.
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  Speaker 1: I've known him for four years and I can honestly
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  Speaker 1: say he's one of my good friends. I feel like
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  Speaker 1: I've known him a lifetime, Waka said. Princeton fans will
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  Speaker 1: come to know Comer's son, Robert in the coming years,
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  Speaker 1: who is a chip off the block as a strapping
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  Speaker 1: eighth grader. Tiger coach Ryan Pearson will no doubt have
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  Speaker 1: his eye on him for football. He's a big boy.
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  Speaker 1: I tell him he's the same size I was as
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  Speaker 1: a senior in high school. Cummer said, as long as
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  Speaker 1: he keeps his head on his shoulders and does what
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  Speaker 1: he's supposed to. He's going to be a hekuva An athlete.
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  Speaker 1: Kevin Hironomous has proudly been the BCR Sports editor since
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  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty six. Contact him at Hironymous at bcrnews dot
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  Speaker 1: com