Beyond the Lights!

This weekend, I was blessed with the opportunity to volunteer at BTL. BTL is the Beyond The Lights Celebrity Golf Classic. it was hosted by Kyle Chandler and Brad Leland of Friday Night Lights. For more info, here's the link. http://beyondthelights.org

This weekend was incredible! And the Kyle encounters were just a small part of it. First off, i'd like to say, that in my opinion, the most special part of the weekend was being able to work with my son, Josh. I'm so proud of him and the way he's grown up. he has a heart for helping people and it really showed this weekend. 
Friday morning, we drove to Bastrop. Beautiful weather, amazing drive. We found the resort with no problem and reported to the club house to get to work. The day before, I had been emailed a schedule of where I'd be working, but it became clear almost immediately that I wouldn't be following that schedule. The event coordinator and the volunteer coordinators were running around making everything go smoothly.

At first, we were kind of standing around, unsure of what to do . Josh and i saw Kyle briefly. He thanked us for being there. Josh told him that he had a DVD for him of Josh's latest movie, a zombie movie. Kyle thought that was cool and asked if it was fiolmed on a super 8. When we told him what kind of camera it was actually folmed on, he totally got it. Josh was impressed with that. Josh was also thrilled to meet a fellow film maker that day, who actually is going to come to the set and help Josh and film.

Josh and i set up swag bags and did some basic busy work, then I got put on a golf cart to hand out refreshments too. I relieved a few people out on the course and Josh got put on the seventeenth hole. That's the hole that Kyle, Brad and some of the other cast were at most of the day. Josh said he enjoyed watching for a little while, but then it got old. I think he was out there like three hours. I was on the thirteenth hole for a while, then I got relieved.

Aftrer getting back to the club house, i was supposed to have lunch, but ended up skipping because of the line. I went back to the ball room and help set up for the gala. I ended up putting together these shelves with scissors and needlenose pliers with a couple from Bastrop who were volunteering. One of the coolest things about this were some of the awesome volunteers I met. There were people there from out of state who flew in to help and make a weekend out of it.

Josh came back from his assignments so we three were able to eat dinner together. After dinner, we set up the swag bags for the gala.

Josh and I ended up getting assigned to sell candid shots from FNL that evening. i think we sold about a half dozen pics or so. We saw Kyle that night and spoke to him for a few moments. He seemed really appreciative of all of us volunteers and made a point to thank us all.
Josh went up and gave him his movie. Kyle started talking to him about it and next thing you know, Kyle is asking for our phone number so he can call Josh and tall him what he thought of the movie. Then Kyle said to Josh, "I need to come work for you. " Josh was just thrilled. At one point in the conversation, I put my arms around Josh and told Kyle how proud i was of Josh and Kyle was like awwww!!

We met an online friend that night, our very own Josy, who is originally from France. She came in just for the gala in hopes of meeting Kyle. At one point, she was walking by and Kyle was up ahead. She went over to meet him and Jessie and i went with her. We were both a little irritated because the people that were talking to Kyle saw us standing there waiting and just kept bending Kyle's ear.

Finally, we had our turn. Josy was awesome. She went right up and started talking to him and took pics with him. He was really impressed that she came from France. I had made a comment about adopting her and Kyle was like, "you're adopting a French girl?" " so when we posed for pics, instead of saying cheese, he said "fromage", which, is French for cheese. It was awesome. Josy was so cool, calm and collected. It was awesome to meet her that night.

We took turns guarding the volunteer room and at one point, Josh and I went to the bakery. I was thrilled that they had chocolate croissants, my very favorite thing in the whole world!!

It was then that we ran into Kyle's younger daughter. We chatted with her for a little bit, then went back to the volunteer room. After a while, we helped out with the auction, then went to our hotel. We were so tired by that pojnt, that we actually got on the elevator and just stood there. Didn't press any buttons, just stood there and were all surprised that the elevator didn't move.

We got some sleep and then it was time to go back to BTL, for the disc golf tourney. I'm sorry, call it what you want, it was throwing a frisbee into a basket, plain and simple. Josh and I got assigned to hospitality and we had a blast. We were all happy with our assignments. My son took us offroading in the golf cart a few times, but i didn't fall out, so it's all good.

Josh and i seemed like we were following Kyle and his team around a lot but they stayed hydrated, which was a good thing. I had a bad moment when I stepped into a hole and twisted my ankle, but thank God, it didn't really start hurting until today. Nothing serious, it just feels like a pulled muscle. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch.

We ended up getting a table, right behind Kyle, who was soon joined by his wife and daughter. We ate lunch and were getting ready to leave, so we stopped and said goodbye to everyone, including Kyle. When we said goodbye, he stopped what he was doing and stood up, gave me a big hug and shook hands with Josh. I told him that I was so proud of him and that the event was awesome. i thanked him for letting me be a part of it and he thanked me and Josh for coming out and helping. He had a flower behind his ear from his daughter. Too cute. He then said, "you've met my wife." and i said no i hadn't, so he introduced us. I then told her "I hope I'm not being inappropriate here, but I know how hard it was when you all were doing the commuting thing, and being a military spouse, I know it's never easy doing the single parent thing and I've been praying for you." She smiled and said that the prayers worked.

Kyle, then went on about how our family has supported the show since the beginning and that Josh has made a zombie movie. Kyle seems really thrilled with that and he said he was going to watch it soon. I then gave his wife a big hug and told her how great it was to meet her and that I'm still praying for their family. She seemed touched. The only awkwardness was when Kyle was saying about our family, he and brad and some of the other folks at their table started clapping for us. I was like really? I was a background extra.

Then it was time to go home. We drove home to more beautiful weather and made it without any problems. never even had to stop for gas.

Speaking for myself, I felt like I was so blessed to be a part of this weekend. Gridiron heroes and The Buoniconti Fund are doing awesome things to raise money and awareness for spinal cord injuries. All of these people coming together for such an amazing cause was just humbling. God bless these people.

Josh got to do something he's never done before. I stepped way out of my comfort zone this weekend. I'm not great with driving to strange places, meeting strange people and doing different things, so this was huge for me. I feel like I can move mountains now. Well, at least as long as i have a good map and clear directions anyway. It was awesome working with my son. I got to watch him work hard and be a good person this weekend. I'm so proud of him.

I also felt like those years on FNL were appreciated. Brad, at one point, stopped me and Josh and introduced us to some friends he knew from highschool. he was like, yeah, the Zellos ARE Dillon. Every game, every church scene, every restaurant scene, there they were, supporting our show. I never knew anyone noticed. I have to admit, it felt good to be appreciated. And having Kyle, our favorite actor, knowing our family's name, wow!! What are the odds and how cool is that?

Lots of money was raised. Lots of memories were made and it was just awesome all around.

Sorry, there are hardly any pics from me. I was so busy working, it didn't even dawn on me to go around getting pics with with the different cast members. I got a few with Kyle which I will post soon, but that's it. It just didn't seem the right thing to do, just not what this weekend was about, as far as I'm concerned.

So, that was my weekend in a nutshell. Had a blast. Helped a great cause. Can't wait till next year!

Here's a video showing exactly why this weekend meant so much to our family.

May is brain tumor awareness month...

The following is my son's account of dealing with a brain tumor. It was written four years ago, when he was eleven years old.

My name is Benjamin Zello. My friends call me Benji. I am eleven years old. I'm a fifth grader at Olympia Elementary. In many ways I'm just like all of you. I like hanging out with my brother and sister, I like going to Rudy's to buy ice cream and eat bbq. My favorite subject in school is recess, and most days in the summer, you'll find me at Schertz pool.

In some ways, I'm different. One of those ways happened four years ago. I was seven years old. I lived in San Angelo Texas. My life was good, except, lots of times I didn't feel good. I would get really bad headaches and sometimes I would throw up for no reason. Sometimes, I would get a funny feeling inside and I'd forget where I was. Then I would sleep for a long time. I slept a lot back then. My mom would pick me up from school and I'd fall asleep before we left the parking lot.


My mom took me to the Dr's after she saw me have one of these feelings one night. She said I had a seizure. The Dr told my mom that the symptoms I was having sounded like a tumor, but my mom wasn't worried. She said, most times it's not cancer and she didn't think I had anything to worry about.

 Later that week, I had to have two tests. An MRI to look at inside my brain and an EEG to see what kind of waves my brain had. The EEG was easy. They put wires on my head with gel and I just had to lie still. My mom says I even fell asleep. The MRI was scary. I had to get a needle in my arm to let the techs see inside my brain. I was scared, but my mom prayed with me and held my hand. I remember the nurse was kidding with me and told me how brave I was, even when I cried. I had to lay in a closed machine and not move. My mom said to pretend it was a space ship. The machine made loud noises and I was cold. My mom stayed with me the whole time. When the jokey nurse came back in, my mom said she had tears in her eyes. That's how she knew something was wrong. After the MRI, we went to burger king and I came home and slept all day.

The next Monday, my mom let me and my brother walk to school alone for the first time. It was fun.


Then later that morning, I got called down to the office. I saw my brother and he told me he was called down too. We thought our house had a fire. We walked into the office and i was confused. My dad was there and my mom looked sad. She asked me if i remember that the MRI was to see if there were any weird lumps in my brain. I said yes. My mom said that there was a lump in my brain and it was called cancer. I didn't think anything at first. Then my mom said I would need surgery. That's when I got scared and started to cry. We went home and I got ready for surgery. I had to go up to Dallas and see lots of Dr.s. We stayed at the Ronald McDonald house and i got to eat at the purple cow. My mom cried a lot during those days.


Our church prayed over us and my school bought a huge teddy bear and gave it hugs and sent it to the hospital with me. I was scared but going to school and seeing my friends made me feel better.

I had surgery on a Friday. We woke up really early while it was still dark and drove to the hospital to get ready. It was raining. Soon, I was on my way to the operating room. When I woke up, my mom was there. She told me that they got the whole tumor and that I'd be fine. I had a small headache and my tongue hurt from the tube in my throat. I had a big scar in the back of my head that my mom called my trap door. I went home from the hospital two days later. We stayed in the Ronald McDonald house a few more days. The Drs said i was better and we drove back home to san Angelo. I went back to school a week later and started having MRIs sometimes to make sure the tumor stayed gone. It's been four years yesterday and the tumor hasn't come back.

The first time I heard about Relay for Life, we were in Biloxi Mississippi. My mom said that Relay For Life was an all night walk to help raise awareness and money for cancer research and that it would be a good thing to do. There would be other survivors like me and walking with them would make me feel like I was part of a really big family. The survivor lap was cool, but a little sad. I didn't know that there were so many people with cancer. I thought I was the only one. I was scared to walk the lap all by myself, but this nice lady named Lynn, who had breast cancer, walked with me and held my hand. My mom made friends with her that night and she'd give me hugs whenever she saw me after that. I love going to relay for Life. It's really neat to be around so many people who care about you. It's like they are cheering you on for surviving. There's one part that makes my mom cry every year. It's called the Lumiaria part. You can buy a bag and decorate it to be in honor or in memory of someone with cancer. When it gets dark, all the bags are lit with candles. My mom says that it's amazing seeing all those bags lit up. I'm looking forward to relay this year. It's on April 27th. This year, I'm big enough to walk all night. We're bringing our camper and we're going to stay for the whole thing. I've already raised some money and I'm happy to be a hero of hope this year.

The funny thing is, I don't think of me as being a hero. I'm just a normal kid like everyone else. I'm just a normal kid who is also a cancer survivor. I plan on surviving for a very long time.

Benji is fifteen now, and by the grace of God, continues to be cancer free. What has amazed me the most about this expereince, is how many children there are with brain tumors and other forms of cancer. It breaks my heart.