Maria Adams

Maria Adams sat down with me for Heroes I Know.

Wife of Command Sergeant Major Stephen Adams. I watched that rising star from afar. Then Facebook showed me the other side. It showed me her.

She was born and raised in El Paso. She met Steve at the airport. He asked for her name and her number. She was 21. Maybe 22. College. She wanted to be a doctor. Six months later she was his wife. They eloped. The insurance man called her dad.

Five boys. The oldest is in Austin. The second was born at 28 weeks. Three pounds. The doctor said he would not make it. Her mom said that was not up to him. He is 26 now. Business. Accounting. He drives. Matthew is at Mississippi State. Aerospace. His team shot a 30-foot rocket to 30,000 feet. The 20-year-old works Ford parts. Benjamin is 13. Archery. Soccer.

After Steve passed they moved from Mississippi to Texas in two weeks. The Mississippi State son said it is okay Mom. We got this. Dallas was going to be their retirement place. She told Matthew it is her happy place.

The back pain started at Rock Island. Then he could not climb the hill to the stop sign. The unit doc called. Meet me at the emergency room. Quadruple bypass. Then lesions on the liver. Thanksgiving. He said this is probably our last holiday together. December 5th she told the boys to come say goodbye. She told Steve it was okay if he was ready. Five minutes later he was gone.

He liked to fly. He liked to cook. He bought a car every year. He made her ride five miles. Then 20. Hattiesburg hills. He left a smoker on a wood deck once and the deck caught fire. She made him get rid of the gun. Next grill went on cement.

He told her if anything happened she needed to live. She is still here. She has those boys to live for. That is why we hit record. Get the story on tape before we are too old or too sick to tell it.