KEARNS — Christopher Chavez never realized his dream of wearing a Kearns High football jersey. He lost his life to cancer.
But Thursday night, his parents walked into Cougar Stadium hand-in-hand with a boy who's carried Christopher's desire to represent the high school into every single game he's played for the past three years.
"This would have been Christopher's senior year as well," said Lorrie Paulson, whose son Kevin Paulson asked his parents earlier this fall if they would watch from the sidelines while he walked with William and Hasani Chavez on senior night. "They just had a very deep friendship. Kevin has worn Christopher's number (33) in honor of Christopher somewhere on his body every single game."
Hasani Chavez said she and her husband were moved when Kevin asked them to walk with him.
"We both cried," she said. "We knew Christopher would have been walking with them. It means so much to us. Because Kevin asked us, that means his parents Lorrie and Steve are not going to walk with Kevin."
Hasani said her son was very athletic, but one sport won his heart from the moment he first played it.
"Football was his dream," she said. "We met Kobe Bryant. He asked Christopher what his game was. He said, 'I want to play football for Kearns.' He grew up going to Kearns games."
But Hodgkins Lymphoma would rob him of that chance. Christopher Chavez had just finished football season in seventh grade when he was diagnosed.
"The cancer was on and off," said Kevin Paulson. "It would get worse, and then he'd show improvement. My eighth grade year of football, he'd come to our practices and run the plays just in case the doctors would clear him. But after that he got worse."
Christopher died the fall of his freshman year. Kevin and his friends spent a lot of time with him at home and at the hospital in those final months.
The boys shared a love of athletics from the time they met in first grade.
"He used to live a block away from me," said Kevin. "We played football, baseball and basketball together."
The boys in the neighborhood bonded so tightly that his parents named all of his teammates honorary pallbearers at Christopher's funeral.
Senior night is meant to honor the team's graduating class and the parents who've supported them. The adults who flanked the students on the field before this final home game are the people who drove them to Little League practices, paid entry fees, supported fundraisers and spent more days and nights than they can count sitting in the bleachers.
The announcer thanks them; the fans applaud them; the boys give their mother's flowers; dads get a handshake or a hug.
It is a night that Hasani and William Chavez thought cancer had robbed them of enjoying.
That is until Kevin called.
"One day I was driving by his parents house," said Kevin, who makes the trip with the family to Christopher's grave on his birthday and the anniversary of his death. "I decided to ask them if they'd walk with me. His parents won't have an opportunity to do this."
After the invitation, the couple attended all but one of the Kearns football games this season, Kevin said. The Cougars secured a spot in the playoffs with a 34-20 win over West Jordan.
In addition to recognizing the Chavezes in Thursday night's ceremony, Christopher's name was embroidered on the blankets given to each player's parents.
As Kevin stood with Hasani and William Chavez, his mother and father took pictures.
"He's always been a kid that's worried about other kids," said his mom. "He's our second son of four. We'll have other opportunities."
The Paulsons said the ceremony was moving for everyone involved.
The Chavez' family, my husband, myself, and many of Chris' teammates had watery eyes remembering how special he was, said Lorrie.
It was one final chance for Kevin to carry the spirit of his childhood buddy onto the gridiron.
Chris was our star running back, said Kevin Paulson, and his parents loved football. He would have loved being out there with us.
e-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com