To the editor:

The article and picture of my nephew, Arvid Grover, published prior to his singing of the national anthem at the KU basketball game on Jan. 15 was very heart-rending.

I am Arvid’s 82-year-old aunt from Parsons. As I am only a couple of years older than Arvid, we used to play together often as children. Together, with six or seven of his young cousins and brothers, we all grew up in Lawrence, and were a close-knit little group of kids.

I have many fond memories of those long-ago years, and probably one of the dearest ones is when Arvid liked to promote and perform concerts of his solo-singing. He would invite all his little cousins and siblings, charging each one of us an oatmeal cookie as a ticket to hear him sing. As long as I can recall, Arvid has always been blessed with his wonderful “aria” singing voice.

I am sure that his mother and father (my brother and sister-in-law) would have been so proud of Arvid on that particular day when it was such a great honor for him to have fulfilled his dream of singing the national anthem and alma mater at Allen Fieldhouse. I only wish I could have been there to offer him an oatmeal cookie before the game!

LaRane Wells,

Parsons