The day I met Chuck Norris (RIP)

Memes and jokes aside, I have a very fond memory of meeting Chuck Norris when I was a kid. I believe the year was 1994 and my dad worked for a plant that made commercial vehicles and engines in Garland, tx. So one morning my dad tells me that they were shooting an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger at his plant and asked if I wanted to go watch them film a scene and of course I immediately said yes (I was a huge fan of martial arts in movies and tv plus I got to miss school that day). Well no one tells you how boring filming is and how slow things move, so we spent most of the day just standing around hoping the actors would come meet us (there was a group of families at the plant that day). After some time passed we got word that they were wrapping up filming and they would see if the actors would come say Hello to us, so after a few minutes we see Clarence Gilyard Jr. (who plays Walker's partner on the show) emerge and very loudly and rudely say he doesn't have time for meet and greets and he promptly left. Needless to say we were very discouraged and the PA who was working with us randomly left as well so we all started packing up to leave when out of nowhere we hear a voice call out to us and it was Chuck Norris in the flesh. No entourage, no personal assistants, or bodyguards, just the man, myth, and legend himself! He spent the next hour speaking with us and taking pictures with all of the families. Also, something really cool that he did was that he went out of his way to speak to all of the kids and ask us questions about our likes and to give us a positive message about staying in school and working hard. When I told him I was a huge fan of martial arts in tv and movies he recommend I start watching movies being made by a little known Chinese actor named Jackie Chan (Rumble in the Bronx had not yet come out) which I did and to this day Jackie Chan's "Who Am I?" is one of my favorite martial arts movies of all time (Dialogue is a bit corny, but the fight scenes were way ahead of its time). Anyway, I just wanted to take a moment and pay homage to a great man who went out of his way to make the day for a few kids in Garland he would never see again. To think he did all of that even when there was no press around shows how much he really cared about his fans and the well being of others.