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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, The friends and family of McCarley Jean Rutledge, |
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who passed away on November 24, 2021, at the age of 27, will forever |
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remember her as a passionate champion for good in this world; and |
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WHEREAS, Carley Rutledge was born on May 10, 1994, to John and |
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Laura Rutledge in Fort Worth, and her childhood was spent exploring |
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the woods behind her house, performing skits with her siblings and |
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friends, and participating in family game nights that inevitably |
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descended into giddy chaos; and |
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WHEREAS, Although Ms. Rutledge's teenage years were |
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interrupted by a stage 4 Ewing Sarcoma diagnosis, she continued to |
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live her teenage life by going to concerts and parties and inviting |
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friends to the teen room at the hospital to hang out; she had a knack |
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for taking what scraps life gave her and fashioning them into |
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beautiful moments; her habit of bringing decorations and home |
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comforts along on her many hospital stays inspired Carley's Closet, |
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a service that donates similar items to young adult cancer patients |
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in 13 hospitals across Texas; and |
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WHEREAS, Two years into her cancer journey, Ms. Rutledge |
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enrolled in college at the University of Colorado Boulder and |
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blazed a trail as the first Ewing patient to receive a promising |
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cancer vaccine that other Ewing patients benefited from; she grew |
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from a bright-eyed college girl into a woman full of opinions, |
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interests, and passion, and she immersed herself in politics, |
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cooking, gardening, running, and travel; and |
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WHEREAS, After eight years, her cancer returned in her spine, |
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and following two debilitating surgeries, she spent months learning |
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to walk again; she continued excelling at her job and created a |
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popular podcast with her best friend from high school, Monica |
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Moser, called TX Forever; she went scuba diving in the Blue Hole in |
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Belize and ran a 10K just months after regaining her ability to |
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walk; her time was also spent in Red River, New Mexico, with her |
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family, often curled in an armchair with a huge book in her lap; she |
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giggled and played with her beloved niece and nephews, and she drove |
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from Denver to Central Texas to celebrate her grandmother's |
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birthday, all while undergoing chemo treatments; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Rutledge was an icon of hope in the cancer |
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community; she shared her story on behalf of the Rutledge Cancer |
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Foundation and encouraged countless other patients; furthermore, |
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she testified movingly before both the Colorado and Texas state |
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legislatures to advocate for insurance coverage of fertility |
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preservation treatments for young adult cancer patients; and |
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WHEREAS, Carley Rutledge lived each moment to the fullest and |
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met every obstacle with grace and strength, and she left an |
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indelible mark on all those who were fortunate enough to share in |
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the richness of her life; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 88th Texas |
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Legislature hereby pay tribute to the memory of McCarley Jean |
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Rutledge and extend heartfelt sympathy to her parents, John and |
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Laura Rutledge, and to her many other relatives and friends; and, be |
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it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of |
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Representatives adjourns this day, it do so in memory of Carley |
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Rutledge. |