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Voice of the people

August 28, 2008 @ 12:00 AM

Not all Beamans are bad people

To all the people out there who know Lance or Heath Beaman, I would like to say a few things.

First off, to all the people who say that Lance and Heath are the only two Beamans out there: I am a Beaman; even more so, I am the youngest brother of the "notorious Beaman brothers." I am the brother who you have never heard of -- the one who went to college and graduated and now has a family that I support while working for the -- wait for it -- federal government. The one who when you read my name in the paper, it was because of a sporting event. The one who may have not become what the rest of his family turned out to be, but still one who lost his brother.

I don't pretend that I agree with the lives that Lance or Heath have lived, but those are their lives, whatever that may be. They played the hand they were dealt the only way that they knew how.

Now to all the people who like to lump everyone with the last name of Beaman into the same category: You may not respect or even like those with the name Beaman, but be assured that there are some good Beamans who have made the right choices and become good husbands, fathers and friends, and those Beamans (while mourning the loss of a family member) will ask for the respect that they deserve.

I may sound bitter in this, but what I am trying to say is that while Lance did some deplorable things in his life, he was and will always be my brother. Maybe having two brothers like Lance and Heath Beaman is what made me the person I am today. I don't know. But, I do know that I will miss my brother even if we were not as close as other brothers.

Lance, tell Granny Goldie I love her when you see her.

Travis Beaman

Milton

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I can still see it as I climb the ridge at the south end of Johnstown Road. And those who turn onto West Virginia 527 from Miller Road and Pleasant Valley Drive can see it, too. That is, if they attended the little red brick school that made its home in the valley where Interstate 64 now runs east and west. It sat in the middle of a vast green meadow. Johnstown Road ran past it, almost at its door, and there was a lazy little creek on the north side of the dirt playground where we spent many a recess. We played marbles in the dust. We played ball and jacks and all the things that can be done in 15 minutes worth of free time. We developed lifelong relationships there, and our teachers taught us so many things. What a wonderful place Pleasant Valley Elementary School was. The interstate took it years ago, but my mind's eye still sees it from the hill.
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